


Chase's Girlfriend

by Multi_Fandom



Category: Lab Rats (TV 2012), The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel - Michael Scott
Genre: Crossover, F/M, slight AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-21
Updated: 2015-04-14
Packaged: 2018-02-09 20:12:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 23,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1996248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multi_Fandom/pseuds/Multi_Fandom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the good Elders start to notice the Lab Rats, they send someone in to do a bit of reconnaissance. The usage of her aura attracts the attention of the Rats.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this on a whim and it just kind of kept going. I have an idea of where I want this to go but I'm not sure how to get there, so bear with me please!

            Madison walked into the building slowly. She flinched as her Awakened senses were swamped with information. She could deal with the sounds but the smells were overwhelming. The disgusting combination of body odor, perfumes, cooking class projects left out of the fridge for too long, science projects gone wrong and a conglomeration of other _wonderful_ smells made her gag.

            Closing her eyes, she concentrated, bringing her aura to life. It flared around her for less than half a second and faded. The smell of chlorine permeated the air surrounding her and a faint glimmering of the sky-blue color covered her mouth and nose in a thin film.

            She took a deep breath. Much better. The film filtered out the smells nicely. She could breathe freely. Now she was able to concentrate on why she was sent here.

 

            Chase looked up when he smelled chlorine. It was odd because the pool was on the other side of the school. His senses were enhanced but not that enhanced. He looked around, inhaling periodically, trying to locate the source of the odor.

            "What's up, Chase?" Bree asked as the smell faded.

            "I thought I smelled chlorine." He replied.

            "What, that stuff they use in pools?" Leo piped in.

            "Yes, Leo, that stuff they use in pools." Chase snapped. He was concentrating on finding the source of the smell.

            "Geez, Mr. Smarty-pants. Didn't mean to offend you with my stupidity." Leo's voice was full of sarcasm.

            "I'm sorry, Leo. I didn't mean to snap." Chase apologized.

            "Awe, it's alright." Leo gave a big smile. Adam reached over Chase's shoulder and began snapping his fingers in Leo's face.

            "I did mean to snap." The largest of the three bionic siblings said completely seriously. Leo smacked Adam's hand out of his face. A brief slapping war ensued, a war that Leo ultimately lost.

            "Ugh." Bree rolled her eyes. "You guys are so weird!" Chase just laughed at his brother-and-step-brother's stupidity. The smell had completely dissipated; there was no chance of finding the source. He shook his head a little, clearing the thought from his mind. It was a trick he used frequently, forcing useless or meaningless thoughts from his head with a physical gesture.

 

            Madison pretended to be studying a map of the school. She had already memorized its layout by order of her parents. In actuality, she was looking for the three kids she had been briefed about. There was something odd about their auras and Madison was there to make sure it wasn't some Dark Elder plot.

            The theory her superiors were working off was the three of them had been Awakened by a Dark Elder who had messed with their auras somehow and for some reason. It was her job to determine if this was the true and, if it was, either find some way to reverse it or stop the project with any means necessary.

            She spotted them across the hall. Two boys and one girl, all with brown hair, looking alike enough to be siblings. The shorter of the two boys was really cute, she observed offhand. They were standing in a group, presenting a united front. A scrawny, dark-skinned boy was standing with them. Allowing a bit of her aura to cover her eyes, she scanned them.

            All three of their auras were pure colors, which was a bit unusual but nothing to worry about. She allowed her eyes to flick over the scrawny one. His aura was pure as well but he wasn't why she was here. She turned her attention back to the three siblings.

            She narrowed her eyes. There were no signs that any of them had been Awakened but...no, it couldn't be. It looked like something was drawing on their auras, like her air filter was but none of them had been Awakened. That wasn't possible.

            The girl spotted Madison watching them and nudged the shorter, brown-haired boy with her elbow. She whispered something to him and gestured at Madison. He turned and looked. Madison saw his eyes widen for a second before narrowing in confusion.

 

            "Chase." Bree nudged him. "That girl over there is staring at us."

            Chase turned to look and saw a beautiful young girl no older than himself, with light brown hair that hung just above her shoulders. She was wearing a lime-green zip-up hoodie with a white t-shirt underneath, blue jeans and Converses that matched her hoodie. She was indeed staring at them.

            He felt his eyes widen as he saw a sky-blue mist surrounding her face. His eyebrows met in confusion as his mind automatically began searching for a logical explanation. A mirage seemed the most probable but it could also be some trick: smoke and mirrors and the like.

            The girl and Chase locked eyes. She seemed to be studying him, but why? What was she...?

            Of course. Somehow, this girl knew they were bionic. Maybe she was too. That would explain the mist. Partially, anyways. He gripped Bree's forearm and turned her around. Adam noticed and turned around, leaning down to hear.

            "What?" Bree hissed.

            "That girl over there." Chase whispered, jerking his head in her direction. Adam looked up to where Chase had indicated.

            "What about her?" Bree asked. "I mean, it is a little creepy, but she’s just staring."

            “You pointed her out.” He protested to her.

            “Because I thought it was weird, not suspicious.”

            "I'm suspicious about everyone and everything since Marcus." Chase answered. "And I'm pretty sure she knows."

            "Knows what?" Adam whispered.

            "That we're bionic. She might be too."

            "Chase, I know Marcus turned out to be an android kid out for revenge for his father, but just because one new kid at this school turned out to be like that doesn't mean every new kid will be like that." She raised her voice from a whisper, clearly thinking Chase was just being over-cautious.

            "Bree, I know you probably can't see it but there is a blue mist covering her face. I don't know what it's purpose is, not for sure, but I'd be willing to bet it's some kind of analyzing method." He kept his voice low.

            "Whatcha guys whispering about?" Leo pushed himself into their huddle.

            "There's a girl over there staring at us. Chase thinks she's like Marcus." Adam filled the kid in.

            Leo leaned out of the huddle and looked directly at the girl. '’Not suspicious looking at all, Leo.’' Chase said. '’Now she knows we're talking about her.’'

            "So what are we going to do? Call Davenport and tell him there's another bionic kid out there?" Leo suggested.

            "No, we shouldn't bother him until we know for sure." Bree said. "She might just think one of you is cute. I don't know why she would think that though."

            "If someone can distract her, I might be able to scan her, see if there is a bionic signature coming off her." Chase said.

            "Leave it to me." Leo volunteered. "I'm really good at distracting girls." Chase rolled his eyes.

            "Ooh, can I help?" Adam asked. "I wanna distract the girl."

            "Sure, big guy." Leo clapped Adam's upper arm. "Let's go!" The two of them walked over to where the strange girl was standing.

 

            Madison watched as the three leaned together in a huddle. They were talking low enough and standing far enough away that even with her superior hearing, she couldn't make out what they were saying. She considered extending a bit of her aura towards them so she could hear but before she could come to a decision, the tallest sibling and the scrawny kid started walking towards her.

            She carefully watched the tallest with her aura over her eyes. His aura was a very dark forest green, so dark it almost looked black. It didn't look active but there was definitely something drawing on its power.

            "Hey. You must be new here." The scrawny one said.

            "What gave you that idea?" Madison didn’t even look at him. She was trying to pinpoint the aura drain.

            "I've never seen you around." The scrawny one continued. "My name's Leo."

            "Madison." She responded, not taking her eyes off the tall one. It was something in his neck, but what?

            "I'm Adam." The tall one said, either oblivious to or not caring about her staring.

            "So, where are you from?" Leo asked.

            "Out of town."

            "Yeah, I figured that, but where?"

            Her eyes widened slightly as she figured it out. There was a mechanical device implanted in Adam's neck. A chip probably. She didn't know what it was for but it was obviously not from the Dark Elders. It was human tech. Advanced human tech, but human all the same. It was using Adam's aura to power itself.

            She smiled and looked at Leo. "I'm from a small town in North Dakota." Now that she knew there was nothing Dark Elder here, she could relax. She let her aura drop from her eyes but she left the filter in front of her nose. Some things you only need to smell once.

            "Oh, I know where that is!" Adam exclaimed excitedly.

 

            Once Leo and Adam started talking to the girl, Chase began his scan. There was some interference at first but after a few moments, it disappeared. Chase thought it was a little odd but continued with the scan.

            "So?" Bree asked from beside him. "Any bionics?"

            Chase shook his head but didn't speak. There were no detectable bionics but there was an unusual energy emanating from her. He couldn't figure out what it was.

            Adam waved at the two of them, gesturing for them to come over. Chase saved the readings from around the girl to his internal hard drive, meaning to analyze them more deeply later. Then he and Bree crossed the hall that was beginning to empty in preparation for the first class of the day.

            "Guys, this is Madison." Adam introduced. "Madison, this is my brother Chase and my sister Bree."

            "She just moved from North Dakota." Leo informed them. Chase looked at Madison. The mist around her mouth and nose was more prominent from this distance.

            "Nice to meet both of you." Madison said. She met Chase’s eye and his heart skipped a beat. After he recovered, he extended his hand. She seemed to hesitate for a moment before reaching out and shaking it. There was a flash of multicolored light.

 

            Madison looked both Bree and Chase over with her aura in front of her eyes. Now that she knew what she was looking for, it was obvious that all three siblings had the same chip-thing in their neck.

            She made eye contact with Chase and felt her knees go weak. She pushed the feeling aside.

            Chase stuck out his hand. She hesitated for a split second. It was highly unlikely that her aura would flare. After all, he wasn't Awakened. She reached out to shake his hand.

            The second they touched, Madison's aura completely surrounded her, obscuring her form in a bright, sky-blue light. Chase's flared around him and crackled as if electrified. The clean smell of chlorine mingled with the sweet scent of pineapple. The resulting scent was more pleasing than you would imagine.

            With the flaring of both Madison and Chase's auras, Adam’s, Bree's, and Leo's snapped to life. Adam's was forest green and surrounded him in a field that extended a few feet in every direction and was accompanied by the smell of crushed pine needles. A mahogany field stuck to Leo like a second skin and the smell of maple syrup surrounded him. Bree's was purple, smelled of lilacs and pulsed outward with her heart rate.

            She dropped Chase's hand like it had burned her and closed her eyes, manually deactivating her aura completely. All the odors her filter had previously kept out came flooding in and she gagged, coughing. His aura faded a few moments after she let go of his hand, along Adam's, Leo's, and Bree's. The smells lingered for several moments more.

 

            Chase felt dizzy. He staggered back a few steps and held a hand to his forehead. He shook his head slowly and coughed as maple syrup, lilacs, pine needles, pineapple, and chlorine assaulted his enhanced sense of smell. The mixture, although odd, wasn't unpleasant.

            As his head cleared, he looked around and saw the same reaction from the rest of the people around him, with the exception of Madison. She just looked incredibly confused and a little bit like she was going to be sick.

            "What was that?" He demanded to her. "What just happened?" His internal sensors were going crazy. The readings were identical to the ones he had detected from Madison just a few moments ago.

            "Nothing." Madison replied quickly. Too quickly.

            "'Nothing'?" Leo asked as he recovered from the shock. "How was that nothing? Our bodies were only glowing!"

            "Your bodies weren't glowing, that’d be ridiculous. It was-" She was cut off as the bell rang, telling all students to get to their first class. "Tell you later." Madison turned and almost ran to class. Chase reluctantly headed off to class, questions buzzing through his head.


	2. Explanation

            Madison crept out of her last class carefully, keeping an eye out for Adam, Bree, Chase and Leo. She knew they wanted answers about that morning but that was something she wasn't allowed to talk about.

            "You have some explaining to do." Madison turned around and saw Chase standing behind her.

            "Um..." She slowly backed up until she ran into someone. She looked up and saw Adam standing behind her.

            "What happened this morning?" Bree asked, walking towards Madison from her left.

            "Yeah. That was really weird and crazy and my whole world is weird and crazy." Leo added, closing in from Madison's right.

            "You talking about how your step-siblings have chips implanted in their necks that give them superhuman abilities?" She raised one eyebrow and looked around at the four people surrounding her, almost laughing at the expressions on their faces.

            "How do you know about that?" Chase took a step forward. "No one knows about that." Madison raised an eyebrow.

            "Obviously someone knows about it. It wasn't that hard to figure out once I knew about the chips." She was relieved she had managed to get the subject off of that morning.

            "How do you know about the chips?" Bree demanded. And now the topic had gone back to the morning.

            "Oh, um...it's kinda hard to explain." Madison skated around the question. "It'll take forever and I'm sure you guys need to get home." She made as if to walk away. The foursome tightened in around her.

            "We've got time." Adam said from behind her. “Unless there’s something you don’t want us to know.”

            Of course there’s stuff she didn’t want them to know. “No, nothing like that.” She shook her head.

            “Then tell us.” Bree sounded exasperated. “How do you know about,” her voice lowered, “our bionics?”

 

            Chase saw Madison glance around at the students milling about. Clearly, she didn’t want to say whatever it was in a public area.

            “Maybe we should do this somewhere more private.” He suggested, purposefully letting a hint of a menacing tone into his voice, hoping to scare her. She just gave him a look of incredulity, like she couldn’t believe he had gone there.

            “Maybe we should.” Leo reiterated. She turned her look on him. He flinched.

           

            Back at Davenport’s house, Adam set Madison down on the couch. “You didn’t have to carry me.” She protested. Chase locked the door and turned Davenport’s security system.

            “Would you have come with us if I hadn’t?” Adam asked.

            “No.”

            “Then I did have to carry you. Duh!” He laughed. Madison rolled her eyes and crossed her legs. Chase sat down in the armchair across from her and put his elbows on his knees.

            “Now, why don’t you tell us how you know about our bionics?” He folded his hands. “We can do this the easy way, or the hard way.”

            “Now, why don’t you stop talking like a TV detective? Seriously, how much _Law and Order_ have you seen?” She scoffed.

            The other three started laughing. “That’s not the point right now.” He felt his face heat up in a blush.

            “No, the point is that you three want me to try and explain something so vastly complex the brightest minds in the world don’t understand to four teenagers.” She folded her arms. “Not going to happen. Even if I could put it in terms you would understand, why would I want to?”

            “How do you know I won’t understand?” Chase argued. “If you know about our bionics, you must know that I have far above average intelligence.”

            “I know about the chips. I don’t know the specifics, like what they give each of you.” She leaned forward and pointed at each of them in turn.

            “Don’t point at me.” Leo said, holding his hands up. “I’m not bionic.”

            The blue haze formed around her eyes again as she looked Leo up and down. “I know.” The haze disappeared. “There’s no chip in your neck.”

            “Is that blue mist some kind of x-ray field that let’s you see our chips? How do you control it? Telepathy field? Remote in your pocket?” Chase leaned towards her.

            “What mist, Chase?” Bree looked at him like he was loosing his mind. “There is no blue mist.”

            “There is a mist. I bet you guys just can’t see it because you don’t have my super-sight.”

            “No, there’s no mist.” Madison shook her head. “Your sister’s right, Chase. No mist here.” Chase didn’t even need his analysis to tell him she was lying.

            “Look, just tell us.” Adam sounded exasperated. “How do you know about the chips? Who else knows? What aren’t you telling us?” He pointed an accusing finger at her.

            “Do you watch _Law and Order_ with him?” She jerked her thumb at Chase. “Besides,” she faked a cough, “I think I’m coming down with something.” She made her voice sound raspy.

            “Oh, here.” Adam got her a glass of water. “That should clear up your cough.”

            “Gee, thanks.” The sarcasm was almost tangible.

            “So, what’s the story?” He asked before sitting down.

            Her eyes darted around nervously. She chewed on her lip and rubbed her arms.

            “Any time now would be good.” Leo prompted.

 

            Madison took a deep breath. Her parents were going to kill her anyways. “Alright, basically, I know about your chips because I can see the drain on your auras from the chips. With the blue…mist.” She added, looking at Chase. “Understand?”

            “Nope. But that’s normal for me.” Adam said. Bree just shook her head and even Chase looked a little confused.

            “Like in the _Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flammel_?” Leo asked excitedly. She nodded. “So the books are true? That is so cool!” He exclaimed.

            “Mostly true. The story line is completely made up. Josh and Sophie Newman don’t exist but the part about the Elders and such is true.” Madison corrected.

            “Awesome!”

            “What’s an aura?” Bree asked. Madison sat back and looked at the floor.

            “It’s a magical energy that surrounds everyone and if it’s Awakened, you can train yourself and control it.” Leo supplied.

            “You expect me to believe that there is some invisible, magical field around us?” Chase asked.

            “Around every living being, yes.” Madison said hesitantly. "Every one’s is unique. Some are solid colors, but most are a blend of several colors, like tie-dye. There’s usually an equally unique scent that accompanies the use of an aura.”

            “Uh-huh.” Chase sounded skeptical. “I’m still stuck on the magical energy.”

            “It’s not magic. It’s a science, albeit one that no one really understands yet. Which is kind of the definition of magic.” Madison shrugged.

            “Right.” Chase rolled his eyes.

            She narrowed her eyes at him and held out one hand, palm up.

            “Oooh, are you going to do a magic trick?” Adam sat forward eagerly. “I love magic tricks.”

            “What are you doing?” Chase asked as she curved her fingers, cupping air in her palm.

            “Just watch. The ‘magical field’ around us isn’t always invisible.” She closed her eyes and tilted back her head, concentrating. Her face scrunched up as she felt her aura come alive.

 

            Chase watched in awe as a sky-blue liquid trickled from the tips of her fingers and pooled in the center of her palm. The smell of chlorine filled the air. She opened her eyes. He started. They were flat discs of the same blue with no trace of white or pupil.

            “Hold out your hand, Chase.” Her voice sounded magnified, like more than one of her was talking, and echoed around the room several times before fading.

            “Whoa. This trick is freaky.” Adam whispered to Bree and Leo, both of whom just nodded their heads, slack-jawed.

            “Hold out your hand, Chase.” Madison repeated. He hesitantly held out his hand. She grabbed his wrist with her free hand and held her other hand over his.

            Moving slowly, she tilted her hand. The blue liquid dripped from her palm and into his. As soon as it touched him, a pale yellow liquid bubbled up from his palm. Something that looked like electricity crackled across his fingers. The smell of pineapple mingled with the smell of chlorine.

            The door to the lab opened and Mr. Davenport walked into the living room. “Hey. I thought maybe something had happened. You didn’t come down after school and-“ He stopped dead in his tracks. “What’s going on?”

            Madison turned to look at him and let go of Chase’s wrist. Immediately, Chase’s aura faded. Madison’s eyes turned back to normal. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. There was a confidence radiating about her now that hadn’t been there before.

            “We’re not sure.” Bree said. “Something about auras and our chips draining them. Chase didn’t believe in auras so Madison here,” she gestured at Madison, “is showing him.”

            “Wait, wait. She knows about your chips?” Davenport pointed at Madison, who waved at him rather awkwardly.

            “We didn’t tell her, if that’s what you’re implying.” Chase informed him. Davenport immediately looked at Leo.

            “I didn’t tell her!” Leo protested. “Why would you even think that? I am offended.”

            “You’ll get over it.” Madison said under her breath. Chase heard and grinned at her.

            “So how does she know?” Davenport asked frantically.

            “You could ask her.” Madison suggested. Davenport looked at her.

            “Alright, fine then. How do _you_ know?”

            “I can see the drain on their auras. It’s slight but present. And I know you’re not going to believe me. You’re a scientist, like Chase. How about a little demonstration?”

            “There is nothing you can do that will convince me that auras exist.” Madison raised an eyebrow.

 

            That sounded like a challenge. “Nothing?” She asked, a hint of excitement in her voice. Her nerve had completely disappeared.

            “Absolutely nothing.” She smiled and stood up.

            She took a deep breath and exhaled heavily, blocking out all distractions. She concentrated hard and slowly, she felt her aura begin harden around her. A few moments more and she opened her eyes.

            Looking down, she smiled again. Covering her entire body was a suit of close fitting plate armor the same color as her aura. On her hip was a scabbard with a hand-and-a-half sword.

            She folded her arms and placed her weight on her right foot, leaning slightly, a triumphant look on her face. Davenport looked awestruck, Leo was slow clapping and Adam, Chase and Bree all looked shocked.

            “Cloaking device.” Davenport finally managed to spit out, his voice several octaves higher than it had been. “You had a cloaking device on the armor, rendering it invisible.”

            “Nope. No cloaking device. What material would you say this armor is?” She asked.

            “I would say steel.” Davenport answered. “Why?”

            “Do you really think I would be able to wear a full suit of steel plate armor all day? I’m flattered you think I’m that strong but I can assure you I’m not. This is my aura, solidified around my body as armor. Here.” She pulled off one of her gauntlets and handed it to him.

            He grabbed it. “This is obviously not steel.” He commented, tossing it up and down. “It’s too light.” He began examining it closer, holding it up to his face.

            “I told you, it’s my aura. Watch.” Getting rid of her aura-armor was much easier than forming it. It vanished within seconds, leaving Davenport holding air.

            “What the heck?” He felt around the air with his fingers, searching for the now absent gauntlet.

            “I told you, it’s just my aura, solidified.” She sat back down on the couch. “Oof, I’m out of shape. That was harder than it should have been.”

            “Where did it go, though?” Davenport sounded confused. “It was solid, so it was matter. Matter doesn’t just disappear, it can’t. Matter cannot be-“

            “Created or destroyed, yada, yada, yada. Yeah, it can’t technically. What I do with my aura, if I understand it correctly, is convert its energy into matter and back.”

            “That’s not possible.” He said. “No one can do that.”

            “I can, along with everyone else who can focus their auras.” Madison crossed her arms and leaned back.

            “Ok, now I’ve got some questions for you.” Leo said.

            “Of course.” She rolled her eyes. “Ask away.”

            “Are you trained in the elemental magics?” He asked eagerly. “Like, all of them?”

            “Four of them.” She replied. “Earth, air, water and fire.” She ticked them off on her fingers.

            “Hold on, there are-“ Davenport started but Leo interrupted him.

            “Can I see your trigger tattoo then?” Madison grinned and pushed up the sleeve on her left arm.

            On the inside of her elbow was a black circle. Pale yellow flames radiated outward and two sky-blue dragon wings the exact color of her aura wrapped around, their tips touching on the opposite side of her arm. Madison was struck with the realization that the yellow was the same color as Chase’s aura.

            “Oooh! That is so cool!” Adam stood up and grabbed her forearm, pulling it so he could see the tattoo better.

            “Adam, be careful!” Leo exclaimed. “That’s her trigger tattoo. If you touch it, her fire magic will come to life!” He threw his hands up for emphasis.

            “Don’t worry, Leo. Only I can activate the tattoo.”

            “I hope you know that none of this is possible!” Davenport was still in denial.

            “Mr. Davenport.” Madison leaned forward on the couch. “As a very wise man once said, ‘Once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be true.’” She folded her arms and sat back.

            “Who said that?” Bree asked. Chase answered her.

            “Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of some of the most iconic detective stories on the planet.” Adam looked confused.

            “Sherlock Holmes.” Madison clarified. He smiled and nodded.

            “I still don’t know who that is but I’m just going to go with it.”

            “That’s what you usually do.” Bree commented.

            Mr. Davenport turned and walked back to the door he had exited from, talking to himself and randomly gesturing.

            “I should make sure he’s OK.” Leo followed him.

            “I’ll help, Leo.” Bree stood up, along with Adam.

            “I’ll come with.” All three of them exited, leaving Chase and Madison alone in the living room. She was surprised to find zero awkwardness between the two of them, especially considering they had only met that morning.


	3. Madi meets Spike

            Chase was still a little bit confused. It was a new experience for him and he didn’t really like it. After everyone else left, he looked at Madison.

            “I have a question.” He said. She turned to look at him.

            “Go ahead.” She said with a wave of her hand.

            “This morning, why did your aura react with mine in the first place?” Her eyes widened and her face paled.

            “Uh…there are…there are lots of reasons for two auras to react.” She started playing with the zipper on her hoodie.

            “Like what?” He prompted.

            “Well, when two auras are the same color, which does happen occasionally, they’ll flare up.”

            “But our auras aren’t the same color.” He pointed out.

            “Yeah. Oh, I know.” She sounded nervous. “Sometimes, newly Awakened auras react with other Awakened auras.”

            “My aura isn’t Awakened. You said so yourself.” He shook his head at her.

            "I know, I know." She nervously bit her lip.

            "So, why else would my aura react with yours like that?" He got off the chair and sat down next to her on the couch.

            "I...ah...I don't...I don't know." She finally managed to spit out. She put her hand next to her on the couch.

            "You're a really bad liar." He told her.

            "I'm not...I'm not lying." She weakly protested.

            "I've known you for less than a day and I can tell that's a lie." He raised an eyebrow at her.

            "It's not. Seriously, I don't know." She looked at him with pleading eyes. This was clearly something she didn't want to tell him.

            "OK. OK." He put his hands up in mock surrender. "You don't have to tell me." He set his hands down on the couch.

            His fingers brushed hers. A bit of electricity crackled across Chase’s knuckles and a tiny bit of Madison’s aura liquefied and trickled down her fingers. They both jerked their hands away.

            “Seriously, though.” He laid his hands on his knees. “Is this going to keep happening? Are we going to ‘flare up’,” he made air quotes, “every time we touch for forever?”

            Madison flushed. “Maybe.” She shook her head and looked at the floor, her hair covering her face. “Yes. No.” She put her head in her hands. “This is just so confusing.” Her voice broke and she visibly fought off tears. “I have to go.” She stood up and headed for the door.

            “You don’t have to leave.” He jumped up and grabbed her wrist where it was covered by her hoodie. He turned her around and held her shoulders. “Why don’t you just tell me what’s so confusing. Maybe I can help.” He tucked her hair behind her ear. When his finger brushed her cheek, his aura sparked between them.

            “No.” She pulled back from him. “It’s nothing like that.” She shook her head, tears starting to fall down her cheeks.

            “Then what is it?” He asked. When she didn’t reply, he continued. “I’m not sure what I should do here.” He said honestly, grabbing her shoulders again. “Maybe you could give me a hint?”

            “Chase…” She looked at the ground. He placed a hand on her chin and lifted it up, making her look at him. Her aura swirled around his hand like a snake.

            An internal struggle played out on Madison’s face before she tipped forward, almost unwillingly, and buried her face in Chase’s chest. She wrapped her arms around his body and sobbed softly. He stood rather awkwardly for a moment before he embraced her.

            He held Madison tightly against his body as she cried. Running his fingers through her hair, he tried to comfort her as best he could.

            “Shhh, shhh.” He rocked side to side slowly. “Calm down.” He gently rubbed his hand in a circle on her back. Her body shook with the force of her sobs.

            After a few moments, she jerked away. Chase felt cold for a second where she had been, his body aching for more contact. She turned and ran out the door before he had a chance to stop her. He stood and stared at the door for a few seconds.

 

            What the hell was going on with her? She sees a cute guy and suddenly she’s crying, not only in front of him, but on him? No one had seen her cry since she was three. She hadn’t cried for five years.

            Madison wiped tears off her face, smearing her mascara. She had known there was a good chance she was going to overload emotionally soon. It happened every so often but she could usually tell when and she never cried from them. She just blew up and screamed at everything that moved for a solid hour.

            She hated crying, did everything she could to avoid it. So what about Chase was making her cry? Why is he so…?

            But if she was completely honest with herself, Madison knew what it was about Chase. She had known the moment he touched her and their auras flared. There was only one possible explanation.

            Auras hold memories from past lives, particularly important others in your life. The auras react when they come into contact with a significant other from before. That’s why it feels like you’ve known some people your entire life right after you meet them. It’s also where the concept of ‘love at first sight’ comes from. And ‘soul mates’.

            There. She said it. Soul mates. Two auras like hers and Chase’s only reacted when they recognized as a ‘significant other’ from a past life. For non-Awakened auras, it was the spark a couple felt when they looked at each other, or the strange feeling they get when they first touch.

            Madison found a small park and sat down on a bench. She put her head in her hands.

            “Madison!” A voice rang through the silent air. She jumped up, instinctively readying for a fight. Unwillingly, the last battle was in rose to the forefront of her mind. She had her sleeve up and her thumb over the trigger tattoo before she even realized she had moved.

            Chase ran around the corner and saw Madison in a battle stance. She was settled down in a traditional Nekoashi-dachi stance with the variation of her right arm extended and her left hand hovering over her elbow. He held out his hands in what he hoped was a nonthreatening gesture.

            Madison blinked a few times and lowered her hands slowly. “Chase. You scared me.” She shook her head.

            “I noticed.” He stepped forward hesitantly. Her eyes were wide and she was trembling; he could see it from where he was.

            She was still jumpy from the adrenaline rush. Fragmented images from…a few years ago were flashing through her mind. She fought against them. They always preceded a full on flashback. Chase took another step forward and she lost.

            She screwed her eyes shut and clapped her hands over her ears, sinking slowly to the ground. Rain poured from the sky. Vaguely, she became aware of someone screaming.

            The wind picked up. It started swirling around and Chase had trouble staying upright. The earth shook, rain started falling from nowhere. In the center of the cyclone, he could see Madison. It was difficult to hear over the wind and rain but he thought she was screaming.

            He dropped down to his knees and slowly crawled forward. The closed her got to Madison, the stronger the wind became, the quicker the earth trembled. Raindrops stung his face.

            He struggled through the last few feet, fighting to not be blown to the next county. With one last surge of strength, Chase reached out and grabbed her arm. He watched in fascination as his aura flowed over her arm and washed across her face.

            His felt his face heat up as he noticed her hoodie had come unzipped and the white shirt beneath was soaked. It clung to her body, showing off her gentle curves. Her eyes flew open at his touch. Instantly, the wind, rain and earthquake stopped. She tipped sideways. He caught her and gently cradled her against his chest.

            A pair of hazel eyes filled Madison’s mind, chasing away her flashbacks. She grimaced.

            “Are you alright?” He ran his thumb along her cheek. “What was that?”

            “No.” She moaned into his chest. “I ache _everywhere_. I think that was too much at one time.” She put a hand to her head and closed her eyes.

            Chase gave a little smile and held her tighter. She was starting to shiver. “Maybe just a little. But what was it?”

            “Me loosing control. I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.” She tried to sit up. “That’s not happening.” She sank back into his chest. “I’m really sorry.” Her eyes fluttered shut again.

            “I don’t mind. You don’t have to apologize.” He brushed a few strands of dripping hair out of her face.

            A small moan of pain escaped her lips. She seemed a little delirious and Chase could feel her heating up through his clothes. He ran a diagnostic sweep over her and winced a little.

            Her fever was continuing to rise at an alarming rate. He had to get her inside, fast. She wasn’t going to get better out here. He needed to get the fever to break; there was no telling how much damage a fever this high could do to her.

            He slid one arm under her knees and the other behind her back. Carefully, he stood up. She blearily opened her eyes, squinting despite the low light.

            “What’s going on?” She murmured quietly.

            “It’s alright, just go to sleep.” He said in a comforting tone. She hummed and was complacent for a few moments. Then her brow furrowed.

            "No, no. I can walk." She pushed against him and tried put her feet down and stand up. He rolled his eyes but let her. Almost immediately she swayed. He looped an arm around her waist and held her upright.

            "Of course you can." He smirked at her. "I can see that."

            "Shut up." She protested weakly.

            "I don't think I can." He replied honestly. She laughed softly. Chase smiled as her eyes lit up. She truly was beautiful.

            Then Madison spotted someone behind Chase. Someone she had hoped to never see again. Her body tensed and she couldn't breath. Fragmented images flashed behind her eyes. She forced them away. She needed to be alert; she couldn't take her eye off of him for a second.

            "Are you OK?" Chase grabbed her shoulders. "You look like you just saw a ghost."

            "Might as well have." She whispered.

            "I know you know I'm here." The boy behind Chase called. "It's rude to ignore an _old friend_."

            "I wouldn't consider you a friend if there was no one else on the face of the Earth, Matt." She retorted. "You have to be nice to people for them to consider you a friend. I'm not even sure you know how to be nice."

            "I'm wounded, Madi."

            "Don't call me that." She spat through clenched teeth, still talking over Chase's shoulder. "Don't you ever, _ever_ call me that." He tried to turn around but she stopped him with a hand on his chest.

            "Why? What are you gonna do about it?" The voice was getting closer.

            "Take another step and I'll show you. And only friends get to call me Madi. I think I've made my opinion of you pretty clear."

            "Many times over, sweetheart." A pale, black haired boy wearing dark, torn-up, tight jeans and a black leather jacket over a black t-shirt. Chase assumed he was Matt. "Oh, is this your new boy toy?" He gestured at Chase. "He's cute." He said with a wink. Chase glared at him.

            "None of your business." She looked like she was about to punch Matt in the face. Despite her fatigued appearance, she was intimidating. "And I'm not your sweetheart. Never was."

            "Harsh. You know, sweetie," Matt winked, "One would think that all those months we spent together meant nothing to you."

            Her eyes widened and she started shaking. Chase felt his insides tighten. Who ever this guy Matt was, Chase didn't like him, and whatever he was talking about, it wasn't good. He had hurt Madison. Chase felt anger bubbling up in his stomach.

            "Oh, so you do remember?" He took another step forward. Madison flinched. A cold fury descended over Chase, blocking out all rational thought. A red haze filled his vision and Spike took over his mind.

            Madison saw Chase's demeanor change. His shoulders pulled back and his face hardened. She put a hand on his arm and when he looked over at her, she gasped. There was rage in his eyes. She was suddenly more afraid of Chase than of Matt.

 

            Back at the Davenport's, an alarm went off in the lab. Mr. Davenport's head jerked up from whatever he was working on and he ran across the room to the computer.

            "Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no." He put a hand to his head as he looked at he readings. Adam, Bree and Leo looked over at him.

            "What's up, Big D?" Leo asked.

            "I upgraded Chase's chip to alert me whenever he goes into commando mode and send the coordinates of his location, kind of a distress signal." He said in explanation, clearly thinking that was enough.

            "And?" Bree prompted.

            "And," Mr. Davenport continued in an exasperated tone, "Chase just went into commando mode." The other three's eyes widened slightly. "Yeah." He nodded.

 

            "Chase, what are you doing?" Madison asked, panic in her voice.

            "Just stay here." That voice was definitely not Chase's. It was too gravely. "I'll take care of this." Not-Chase sauntered over to where Matt stood.

            "What are you doing?" Madison repeated. She swayed a little when Not-Chase removed his arms but she managed to stay upright. "You're going to get yourself killed!" On a hunch, she let a little of what was left of her aura cover her eyes. She gasped a little. Not-Chase was more not Chase than she had thought. His aura was black.

            "I can handle this."

            Matt looked Not-Chase up and down. "You serious right now, pipsqueak? I could take you with one hand behind my back."

            "I'd like to see you try, punk. I'ma rip out your bladder and use it as a water balloon."

            "Big words for a little man." Matt crossed his arms.

            "Who you callin' little?" Not-Chase demanded. Matt just rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Madison.

            "You just let anyone fight your battles now? What, can't take care of yourself?" He teased.

            "I can fight just fine, Matthew." Her eyes narrowed.

            Not-Chase cut her off as she was about to say something else. "You stay out of this." He pointed at her. "You're in no condition to fight."

            Without another word, Not-Chase punched Matt in the jaw. Not-Chase smirked as he felt something crack. "Not so tough now, huh punk."

            Matt kicked out and tripped Not-Chase. Before he hit the ground, Matt was up and pinned Not-Chase's wrists. Not-Chase retaliated by head-butting Matt in the face.

            Matt jumped up and back, his hand flying to his nose as blood spilled over his face. He pulled his hand away and looked at it. His face scrunched up. "Oh, you're dead meat now."

            He held his hand out, pointing at Not-Chase. A blood-red aura swirled around it before solidifying into a gun of the same color. He sneered.

            "NO!" Madison screamed. She pressed her thumb to her trigger tattoo. A flame erupted in her palm. Matt looked over at her. His arm lowered in shock.

            "How are you doing that? You don't have enough auratic energy to light a candle. I can see it."

            "You need your eyes checked." A ball of fire flew from her hand and contacted directly with Matt's chest, dissipating into the air. Not-Chase didn't waste a second. He jumped forward and swung his fist. It hit Matt directly in the temple and he crumpled to the ground.

            Bree and Adam ran through a line of bushed just in time to see Chase shaking his head as his commando app shut itself off. He seemed disoriented for a moment, looking around. He caught sight of Madison and ran over.

            She had collapsed after shooting off the fireball. She was lying flat in the grass with her arms bent across her body at an awkward angle. He slid an arm under her shoulders and gently raised her body off the ground. There was a surprising lack of the usual auratic flare.

            Madison seemed to have lost about 15 lbs. in the last few minutes. He swept his diagnostic eye over her and gasped. Her fever was at 106ºF.

            “Chase, what’s going on?” Bree asked. “Davenport got a message that you’re commando app activate, and-“ She cut off. “Who’s that?”

            Chase didn’t bother looking up until someone roughly shoved him away from Madison. He landed on his shoulder and rolled, popping up on his feet. There was a boy who looked a lot like Madison kneeling beside her, his hand on her forehead. Light green energy was flowing from him to her.

            Chase, correctly deducing the boy was her brother, ran to her other side. He knelt down across from him. “Do you know what’s wrong with her?” He asked, concern in his voice.

            “She expended too much energy.” The boy said in a clipped tone. “If she had used any more, she would have combusted.”

            “Combusted. You mean, like-“

            “I mean, like, every atom in her body simultaneously turning to energy to fuel whatever spell she was trying to cast at the time, resulting in her body erupting in flames.” The boy’s tone was matter-of-factly, like he was reciting out of a textbook, and slightly mocking, like it was obvious. “And if you don’t mind, I’d like to know who you are and what you were doing with my sister.”

            “My name’s Chase and I was making sure she was alright after she ran out of my house crying.” Chase didn’t care if he sounded defensive. “What are you doing?”

            The boy nodded in understanding. “My name’s Bryce. I’m giving her some of my aura so she has enough energy to recharge hers. She’ll be fine, after a few days sleep and some food.” He removed his hand from her forehead and stood up. “We live too far away. I’ll never be able to get her there.”

            “Hey, our house isn’t too far from here.” Adam made his presence known. “It’s just down the road, that way.”

            “I’ll carry her.” Chase said. He gave Bryce a look that said this was not up for discussion. Bryce just shrugged.

            “Fine with me.” His tone was disinterested. “I’ll just make sure Matthew here won’t follow you.” There was an evil look on Bryce’s face as he walked over to where Matt was lying. He stooped down in front of Matt and placed a single finger on the unconscious boy’s forehead. Matt disappeared.

            “Where did you send him?” Bree asked. Bryce shrugged again.

            “Wherever he ended up.”

            “Seriously?” Bree put her hands on her hips. “You just sent him anywhere?”

            “Basically. You guys go ahead and take Madison to your house.” He stretched his hands over his head. “I’m going home.”

            “Just like that?” Chase asked in disbelief. “You’ve just met us, your sister is lying unconscious and you’re just going home?”

            “Yeah.” Bryce looked at him like

            “How are you sure you can trust us?” Chase was still having trouble comprehending this.

            "Because I know you couldn't hurt her, same as you couldn't hurt yourself." Bryce said it like it was obvious.

            "How do you figure that?"

            “Mostly because of that.” Bryce pointed to where Chase’s aura was flowing around the two of them.

            “What does that have to do with anything?”

            “She didn’t tell you what that means?” Chase shook his head. “Well, I’m not telling you. I’m sure she has a reason and she’ll tell you when she’s ready.” Chase was about to ask what he meant by that but Bryce turned and walked away.

            “That was weird.” Adam summed up what everyone was thinking.

            “Yeah. Well, come on. Let’s go.” Chase picked up Madison, alarmed by how little she weighed. She stirred in her sleep, cuddling close to his chest. He smiled as her head nuzzled unconsciously into the crook of his neck.

            They walked quickly back home, wary of others like Matt following them. Adam went in front, Bree behind. Chase was in the middle with Madison and he held her tightly. Her aura was already recharging. It joined with his as it swirled around their two bodies. He noted with dismay that her fever was not dropping though.

            "Hurry. We need to get her inside." He said to the other two. Adam nodded and quickened his pace.

            They made it home after just a couple of minutes walking. Davenport was just inside the door. He breathed a sigh of relief.

            "Thank _God_ you guys are ok. I thought for sure you'd been grabbed by-Where is Chase going?"

            Chase had bee-lined for the stairs the second they were inside. He didn't stop to answer Davenport, he just continued up the stairs. He hurried down the hall to the guest bedroom.

            He laid Madison down on the bed and turned to pull the chair that sat in the corner closer to the bed. He ran smack dab into Davenport.

            "Chase, what is going on? You just met this girl today and she already knows about your bionics." He seemed like he was about to go into a rant so Chase cut him off.

            "I don't know what's going on. Ok? She already explained how she knows about our bionics. Whether you believe her or not is your own business." Chase crossed his arms. "All I know is that I'm not leaving this room until she wakes up." He added with a tone of finality.

            Davenport's jaw dropped slightly and he watched in disbelief as Chase grabbed the chair and set it by the bed. The boy sat down and grabbed Madison's hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, there'll start to be some canon soon.


	4. Answers

            Chase was woken up when Madison’s hand gripped his. Hard. He sat up and rubbed his eyes with his free hand.

            “Madison?” She was tense and she was thrashing around like she was having a nightmare. “Hey, Madison.” He put a hand on her shoulder and shook her gently. “Wake up.”

            Her eyes flew open and she shouted. She sat up in a flash, scooting away quickly. She fell off of the bed with a squeak.

            “Are you ok?” Chase crawled over the mattress and looked down at her. She was blushing.

            “I’m fine.” She pulled herself up onto the bed, sitting down next to Chase. “Just a nightmare.”

            “Do you want to talk about it?” He offered. She leaned her head against his shoulder.

            “No, it’s all good. I usually get them after I pass out.” She shrugged.

            “Are you saying you pass out a lot?” He asked.

            She shrugged again. “When I use too much auratic power. I don’t know. I don’t keep track of it.” He gave her a strange look. “Once or twice a month, if I had to guess."

            "I'm pretty sure that's not good for your brain." He looped an arm around her shoulder. She cuddled against him. "To be passing out that much, I mean."

            "Yeah, probably not." There was silence for a few moments, with only the occasional 'pop' of Chase's electrical aura. "How long was I out?" Madison asked softly. Chase looked over at the clock and did a few mental calculations.

            "About a day and a half." Something suddenly occurred to him. "You must be starving." He stood up and extended a hand to him. "Come on, I'll make you something to eat."

            She smiled at him and took the proffered hand. She entwined their fingers and followed half a step behind as he led the way to the kitchen. Adam, Bree and Leo were sitting on the couch at the base of the stairs watching TV.

            “Hey, sleeping beauties.” Leo said. “Did you enjoy your coma?” He smirked, emphasis on the word ‘coma’.

            “That wasn’t even bad.” Madison commented. “I once passed out for a week.” Leo’s eyes bugged out of his head. She laughed. “No, I’m kidding. Three and a half days is my record. That was a wicked fight.”

            “I’ll make some pasta.” Chase said softly. He squeezed her hand and walked over to the kitchen. She walked over with him and leaned heavily on the counter. “Any preferences?” He looked over at her.

            “Whatever is fine.” She crossed her arms over her chest. He nodded and pulled out a pot. He filled it with water and turned on the stovetop. “Can I ask you something?” She asked as he rummaged through the cabinet.

            “Sure.” He pulled out a box of noodles and set them next to the stove. Then he leaned against the counter next to Madison. “What’s on your mind?”

            “What happened to you? During the fight, I mean.” She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “I’ve never seen anything like it. Your aura changed color and you…” She waved her hands in front of her, searching for a word. “You were…different.” She finished lamely. On the couch, Adam and Bree looked over.

            “Oh, yeah. That.” Chase scratched the back of his neck. “That was my commando app.” She looked confused so he elaborated. “It’s something Mr. Davenport installed so if I was ever in danger, I could protect myself.”

            “His name is Spike.” Bree chimed in. “He’s ruthless, fearless and incredibly scary.”

            Her eyes narrowed. “That doesn’t explain the aura change though.” She scooted closer to him and poked at his arm. His aura flared up around him, bringing with the scent of pineapple. “Hmm.” She pursed her lips. Chase noted how cute it made her.

            “Maybe it’s because he’s so different as Spike.” Adam suggested. “I mean, Spike is, like, the total opposite of Chase. And black is the opposite of yellow.” Bree, Leo and Chase rolled their eyes.

            “No, I think that could be it.” Madison said. “It makes more sense than anything I could think of.” She smiled at Chase’s disbelieving expression. “Sometimes, the simplest answers are the best ones.”

            Chase smirked and shook his head. “Adam’s full of simple answers.” Just then the water started to boil and he turned away to make the pasta.


	5. Confessions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the start of the Season 2 episode, "Avalanche!". The rest will hopefully be up soon.

            Weeks passed. Madison helped Mr. Davenport out in the lab during the day, having actually graduated high school years ago. Her parents had insisted so she could be flown around the world on a regular basis and train her aura. She had been faking being a student when she met Adam, Bree, Chase and Leo.

            She had grown close to the teens but especially to Chase. During the few weeks, the two of them hung out a lot. The rest of the Davenport’s would go so far as saying they were inseparable and were waiting for the official announcement.

            An announcement that, at least so far, seemed to not be coming. Bree brought it up to Chase one day.

            “So, how’s it going with Madison?” She asked casually.

            “Fine.” Chase answered, sitting at the holodesk doing his homework.

            “Where is she?” Bree looked around, suddenly realizing that the girl in question was nowhere to be found.

            “I’m not sure. I think she’s at home, having a discussion with her parents.” Chase said. He was lying though. He _knew_ that’s where she was and he knew exactly what they were discussing.

            “Oh.” Bree sat down next to him and leaned on the desk. “So, where are you two at, exactly?”

            “What do you mean?” Chase turned the page of his textbook. “’Where are we’, what kind of question is that?”

            “It’s a valid question.” She protested. “Where are you two crazy lovebirds at? Are you guys a thing? Tell me!” She smacked Chase’s arm.

            “Ow!” He rubbed the spot she had hit. “I don’t think I’m going to tell you now.”

            “Ok, I’m sorry, Chase. Now will you please tell me?” Bree begged. Before Chase had a chance to answer though, Mr. Davenport ran into the lab with Adam.

            “There’s a storm brewing off the cost of a small tropical island that’s looking like it’s going to be huge.” Mr. Davenport activated his holodesk and pulled up a map of the island in question. A mass of clouds was heading towards it.

            "How long until it hits?" Chase asked.

            "By my calculations, a few hours. Now, that's not a lot of time so you need to get moving. Suit up and head out to the high-speed plane, I'll give you instructions over the coms on the ride."

            Adam, Bree and Chase nodded. They hurried into their mission suits and ran out to the plane.

 

            Madison ran up the drive to Mr. Davenport's house. Her parents had reacted like expected: ignoring her. She had tried talking to them about Chase and nothing had come from it. Sometimes she wondered why she even cared.

            She opened the door. "Mrs. Davenport!" She stopped in her tracks when she saw the woman sitting on the couch just inside.

            "Oh, hey Madison!" She smiled. "And please, call me Tasha. Mrs. Davenport makes me feel old. I thought you were talking to your parents."

            "Yeah, well, I talked. I don't know how much they heard because if it doesn't involve the Dark Elders, they couldn't care less." Madison crossed her arms and shrugged.

            "Oh." Tasha seemed at a loss for words. She played with her hands. After a few moments, she hesitantly asked, "Do you want to talk to me?"

            Madison bit the inside of her lip. Then she shook her head. "It's nothing."

            "No, no. Come here." Tasha patted the sofa beside her. "Talk to me. I can help." Madison slowly walked over and sat down. "So what's up?"

            Madison took a deep breath. "I don't know what I should tell Chase. About how our aura's react to each other." She explained after seeing Tasha's confused look. "See, I know what it means but I'm afraid that if I tell him it'll freak him out."

            "What does it mean?" Tasha asked. "I mean, I'm sure it won't completely freak him out. He's pretty resilient."

            "It means we're soul mates." Madison said bluntly.

            "Oh. Yeah, that might freak him out a little." Tasha elbowed Madison gently as the girl's face fell. "Don't worry though. He won't go running off on you. You just need to talk to him."

            "You think?"

            "I know." Tasha wrapped an arm around Madison's shoulders and gave her a tight side-hug.

            "Thanks for talking, Tasha." Madison said timidly. "I've never had someone I can ask stuff like this."

            "Anytime, sweetie." Tasha smiled. "I think Chase is downstairs. Why don't you go talk to him now?"

            Madison nodded. "I think I will." She stood up and headed towards the elevator. Tasha watched and shook her head.

            Madison exited the elevator and walked into the lab. Mr. Davenport was the only one in the room.

            "Hey, Madison." He said as he noticed her. "Chase is out on a mission but they should be back soon." The sentence was barely out of his mouth when Adam, Bree and Chase walked in. A silly little grin covered Chase's face when he saw Madison.

            "Mission accomplished!" Bree announced.

            "Great job, guys. You saved that island from the biggest tropical storm in decades!" Mr. Davenport sounded proud. Madison wondered what it felt like to have a parent praise you for doing well.

            "And," Adam followed Davenport over to the holodesk, "Lucky for you, I brought back a whole bag of hairy fruit." He tipped over his bag and poured several coconuts onto the desk.

            Bree walked over and stood beside Adam, adding, "Yeah, just be happy I made him put the pelican back."

            Madison slowly advanced so she was just behind Chase, standing a little apart from the others. He took a step back and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him a little.

            “Guys, that mission was the finest use of bionics to date. I think we can all agree that strength plus speed equals success.” Madison felt Chase tense next to her as Bree and Adam high-fived.

            “Uh-uh-uh, excuse me.” Chase stuttered. “Let’s not forget the mastermind behind this entire thing.”

            “Oh, right.” Adam said. “Let’s give it up for our fearless leader: Mr. Davenport!” He and Bree turned and high-fived Mr. Davenport.

            “What? No!” Chase protested. Madison felt bad for him. She placed a hand on his waist and gently squeezed. “I was talking about me! I supervised the whole mission.”

            “Yeah, but I think we all know who did the heavy lifting.” Adam said. Chase glared at him. “Well, I’ll give you a hint.” He continued, a coconut in each hand. “It starts with an ‘a’, ends with an ‘m’. There’s a big ‘da’ in the middle.” Even Bree was making faces at Adam by this point. “Ok, guys. It’s me.” He then proceeded to try and bite into one of the coconuts.

            “Please, the real work happens up here.” Chase pointed at his head. Mr. Davenport walked across the lab, looking at a tablet in his hand.

            “Chase, no offense,” Bree clapped her hands, stepping forward, “But your bionic brain is no match for our hustle.” She shook her head side-to-side and gestured outward with her hands.

            “And muscle.” Adam added, posing behind her. Madison grimaced beside Chase and hugged him tighter, trying to wordlessly tell him she disagreed. He squeezed back, making her think he got the message.

            “Oooh, that is a great team name.” Mr. Davenport said excitedly from across the room. He turned around and pointed at Adam and Bree. “Hustle, muscle and ch…uscle.” He pointed at Chase and trailed off. “Don’t worry, we’ll find you an –uscle.’’ He assured Chase.

            Chase just rolled his eyes. He sighed and walked away from Madison towards Mr. Davenport. She watched him with sad eyes. “I am so tired of these two getting all the attention because they have super-speed and super-strength. I never get any of the credit.” He crossed his arms.

            “That is not true, Chase.” Madison shook her head and covered her eyes at Mr. Davenport’s words. “They just have a lot of flash.”

            Bree smiled smugly and Adam was still trying to open the coconut.

            “But you’re the glue that holds that flash together.” Mr. Davenport continued. “You’re…flash glue.”

            “I’m ‘flash glue’?” Chase asked incredulously.

            “Hey, I think I figured it out!” Adam interrupted excitedly. He smacked the coconut on his forehead and smiled as it cracked open. “You’re right, Chase. The real work does happen up there.” He eagerly drank the liquid inside.

            Chase looked between the three of them. He scoffed and quickly walked out of the room, heading towards the elevator. Madison glared at the group before following him.

            She had to wait for the elevator to come back before she could get on. By the time she reached the ground floor, Tasha was nowhere to be seen and Chase was siting at the counter with his head down. Madison came up behind him.

            She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Chase?” She said in a soft voice, rubbing his back slowly.

            He turned his face away from her.

            “Chase, sit up.” She tried to pull him upright.

            “Leave me alone.” He murmured.

            “I don’t think I will.” She leaned forward, resting her cheek on his back. “I think you should talk to me.” She slid her hands underneath him and placed them on his chest.

            “I don’t want to talk about it.”

            “And I think you need to talk about it.” She disagreed. “I’m not going anywhere until you talk to me.”

            “Speaking of talking, how did your talk with your parents go?” He sat up and spun around on the stool. He put his hands on her waist.

            “Terribly. Now don’t change the subject.” She linked her hands behind his neck. “So talk to me.”

            He shook his head. “I just hate how Adam and Bree get so much attention. I work just as hard as they do.” He stood up and started pacing back and forth. Madison hopped up on the counter and let him rant. “I mean, if I wasn’t there on the missions, they wouldn’t even know what to do. Do you think they could have come up with a way to stop that storm on their own?”

            “Not in a million years.” She agreed.

            “Thank you! And they could never have rewired Mr. Davenport’s memory eraser.” He crossed his arms. “All they do is make fun of me. It’s not my fault I’m short and don’t have a super flashy ability.”

            “No, it’s not.”

            “Your hair is your fault though.” Adam said from the elevator doors. Madison turned and glared at him. He backed out of the room quickly. Chase clenched his jaw and stared hard at the floor.

            “Chase, come here.” She held out her arms.

            He hesitated for a second before he walked into her arms and buried his face in the crook of her neck. He fit right between her legs and wrapped his arms around her waist. She tangled one hand in his hair and held him tight with the other.

            “Now listen to me.” She whispered in his ear. “You’re brilliant. You’re sweet, charming, thoughtful, caring and handsome. You're perfect exactly the way you are and you should never let any one tell you differently."

            Chase squeezed her tightly. "Thank you." He whispered. She felt hot tears drip on her neck. His shoulders shook with the force of his sobs. She ran her fingers through his hair.

            Madison held him closely until he calmed down. Then she leaned back and cupped his cheek. "Feel better?" She brushed her thumb over his cheekbones, wiping away a few stray tears.

            "Much." He hugged her to his chest. She grinned into his shirt.

            "Good." There was a silence for a long moment. Then she took a deep breath. "Soul mates." She mumbled quickly.

            "What? I didn't quite catch that." Chase took half a step back and looked her right in the eye.

            "Soul mates." Madison repeated, louder and slower. "That's why our aura's react." She sheepishly looked at the ground. As if to make her point, at that moment, Chase's electrified aura crackled down his arms and around her waist.

            "Oh." There was silence. Then, " _Oh_." His eyes widened a little. "So that's what you didn't want to tell me?"

            "It's not that I didn't want to tell you, it's more that I didn't want to freak you out." She blushed, still looking at the floor.

            Chase chuckled, a warm and rich sound. He placed a hand underneath her chin and gently lifted her face upward so she was looking right at him. His brown eyes were still slightly blood-shot from the crying.

            "I'm not freaked out." He smiled. "I'm glad you told me. Now I don't feel as awkward for having fallen for you so quickly.”

            Madison giggled. “You’re so cheesy.” He made an indignant noise of protest. “Don’t worry, it’s a good thing.” She trailed her fingers along his back.

            “I’m glad.” He suddenly picked her up and slipped an arm under her legs, holding her bridal style. She squealed and threw her arms around his neck. He laughed.

            “What are you doing? Aah!” She screamed in delight.

            “I’m being romantic.” He ran around the room a few times before sitting down on the couch.

            “You wouldn’t know romance if it hit you in the face.” She shifted to slide off his lap but he fixed his arm around her waist.

            “I’m good like this.” He nuzzled his nose into the space behind her ear. “And I’m very romantic.”

            “Of course you are, sweetie.” She grinned at his noise of protest. She twisted to the side and laid her head on his shoulder. He ran his fingers through her hair.

            There was silence for a little while. Madi breathed deeply, inhaling Chase’s natural odor. She slid down in his lap so her ear was placed right over his heart. She closed her eyes and listened to the rhythmic thumping.

            Tasha tiptoed down the stairs and peaked around the corner. She grinned when she saw Chase and Madi curled into each other on the couch. She was glad they had found each other. Madi was good for Chase, she decided as she snuck back up the stairs.

            After a few more moments, Chase hummed. The vibrations through his chest pulled Madi out of her daze. She popped her eyes open and looked up at him blearily. He looked down at her.

            “So,” He sounded hesitant, “Where are we, exactly?”

            “Well, exactly, we’re on the couch in Mr. Davenport’s living room.” She smirked as he rolled his eyes.

            “You know what I meant.” She feigned a look of complete ignorance. He sighed. “Where are we? Relationship-wise.”

            “Where do you want to be?” She placed a hand on his chest. “Relationship-wise.” She added.

            “Well, I like this.” He tightened his arm around her waist, holding her close. “I kinda want to be where ever we can do this.”

            “I like this too.” She smiled. Her hand trailed along his chest to the collar of his shirt. She fiddled with it. “I think this is called ‘cuddle buddies’.” Her smile turned into a smirk.

            "You think so?" He poked her side. When she let out a small squeal, he smirked. "Are you ticklish?" He asked softly.

            "No." He poked her stomach. She squeaked and laughed.

            "You're totally ticklish." He ran his hands over her sides. She fought off laughter.

            "Am...not." She managed to choke out.

            "You're a terrible liar." Chase informed her. "And you're very ticklish." He tickled her sides. She screamed in laugher and squirmed against his chest. After a few moments, he took pity on her. He wrapped his arms around her, cradling her small frame to his chest.

            "And you're mean." Madison stuck out her bottom lip. He laughed at her pouting and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

            "I'm sorry, Madi." She pouted for a few more moments. "If you stay like that for too long, your face'll get stuck." He joked. A giggle broke through her pout.

            "Cha-ase!" She smacked his chest playfully.

            "Ma-adi!" He mimicked her. They both dissolved into laughter.

            Madi leaned against his chest, placing her head on the top of his shoulder. He was still shaking a little from their giggle fit. He held her tightly to his body.

            "You're comfy." Madi commented, snuggling right up to him. She extended her legs out beside them.

            "Am I?" Chase asked softly.

            "Yes." He was also warm. She shut her eyes and relaxed into him. It was late in the day, she was tired, she didn't sleep well at home. No one could really blame her. She fell asleep.

            Chase felt Madi's breath on his neck slow into a steady rhythm as she drifted into sleep. He smiled and slid slowly into a more comfortable position, careful to not wake her. As he settled into the couch, Adam came running into the room.

            "Chase!" He shouted. Chase frantically gestured at him to be quiet. Adam got the message and he whisper shouted, "Chase!"

            "What?" Chase whispered back.

            "Leo and Bree need you in the lab."

            "Tell them to deal with it themselves." Chase snapped quietly. "I'm a little busy."

            "Doing what?" Adam's voice rose a few decibels. Chase glared at him. Adam realized and at least had the decency to look sheepish.

            "Apparently, being a pillow." Madi shifted in her sleep. She made an adorable little noise before her breath returned to the steady rhythm it was before.

            "Alright, I'll tell 'em." Adam shrugged. "But I don't think they'll be very impressed with that excuse."

            Chase honestly couldn't care less. He leaned his head onto the top of hers and closed his eyes. A few minutes later, he heard Leo and Bree climb out of the elevator. They were arguing loudly over something. He pretended he was asleep.

            "Oh, Bree, look." Leo was suddenly whispering. "They're asleep."

            "That is so cute!" Whatever they were arguing about was forgotten. "I need a picture of this."

            After a few seconds, Chase heard someone walking over. A blanket was laid over them. "Let's not bother them." Leo whispered. "They look so peaceful."

            "We can ask Chase tomorrow." Bree agreed. "I don't want to wake them." They walked away. A few moments later and Chase really was asleep.


	6. Avalanche

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Season 2, episode 17  
> Chase decides to go to Antartica to prove to Mr. Davenport he's as capable as Adam and Bree.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so so so so sorry it took me so long to update this! Swim season started up and I got too busy to write anything.

            Fast forward about a week. Adam, Bree, Chase and Madison, and Leo were down in the lab. Adam was doing who-knows-what, Bree was on her phone and Leo was helping Adam do who-knows-what. Madi and Chase were chatting about whatever random topic came to mind, something they did often. It allowed a person to really get to know someone quickly and easily.

            Mr. Davenport entered with some new gizmo. “Ok, guys.” He got their attention. “Say hello to my latest invention, the cryo-blaster!” He said excitedly. “This thing can freeze anything in a nanosecond.”

            “So can I.” Madi said nonchalantly. Mr. Davenport glared at her and Chase quirked an eyebrow at her. “I just use my fire magic in reverse, pulling heat out instead of putting it in.”

            Leo slow clapped. “Bravo, Big D.” He said sarcastically. “You invented ice.” Mr. Davenport turned his glare on him.

            “No, I invented a way for astronauts to travel to distant galaxies while frozen in suspended animation.” He looked at Madi pointedly. Chase unconsciously wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

            “I can’t do that.” She said. “Travel to distant galaxies, I mean.” She added for clarification. “The suspended animation thing is easy, I can do it without freezing them.”

            “That’s just a fancy way of saying ‘ice’.” Leo interjected. Mr. Davenport made a noise of disagreement.

            “All right, here, let me demonstrate.” He grabbed Adam’s juice and set it on the table. “Mm-hmm. You guys might want to step back because the ray from the cryo-blaster freezes everything it touches.” He pointed the blaster at the cup of juice as the five of them scrambled out of the way. Chase’s arm stayed on Madi’s shoulders.

            Mr. Davenport pulled the trigger on the blaster. A few seconds later, the cup was a block of ice.

            “Oh. ‘Freezes’ as in ‘encases in an iceberg’. I get it now.” Madi whispered to Chase. Chase started laughing but quickly covered it with a cough. Mr. Davenport looked at the two of them in confusion.

            Leo walked back to the table. “Can someone please tell this dude he’s making ice?” He looked between the four other teenagers in the room in fake-pleading.

            “Look, every space program in the world is gonna want one of these.” Mr. Davenport explained. “Since apparently, the ‘magic users’ of the world won’t share their knowledge of suspended animation.”

            “’Magic users’, as you so eloquently put it, tried to share the knowledge we have with the world once.” Madi crossed her arms. “You know what happened?” Every one in the room shook their head. “The Salem witch trials happened.”

            “Oh.” Mr. Davenport said sheepishly. “Well, moving on, I just need the element to fuel them: cytanium.”

            “This is starting to sound like a clichéd comic book.” Madi interjected.

            “Hey, it is!” Leo agreed.

            Mr. Davenport ignored both of them, continuing with his speech. “And it’s only found here.” He pulled up an image of Antarctica on his holodesk. “I’m sending you on a mission to the most remote part of Antarctica.”

            Bree spoke up. “As opposed to bustling downtown Antarctica?” Madi chuckled. Chase smiled and tightened his arm around her before speaking.

            “No worries, Mr. Davenport. We’ve been to way worse places than Antarctica.”

            “Oh, yeah.” Adam said, grinning at something. “Remember Bakersfield?” Everyone in the room sans Madi groaned. She just looked at them.

            “Bakersfield? Really?” Chase looked down at her.

            “It’s a lot worse than you’d think.”

            “I’ll take your word on it.” He smiled and gently kissed her forehead.

            “Hey, you two!” Leo shouted, pointing at them. “Keep the PDA to a minimum. There is no room for that in this lab.” He made an all-encompassing gesture with his hands.

            “Yeah.” Adam agreed. “And I think all the romance is gonna make me sick.” He faked a gag while Madi stuck her tongue out at him.

            Suddenly, the holodesk flashed red and sounded a warning beep. Mr. Davenport looked down at it. His face fell.

            “Oh, no. There’s a massive storm headed to exactly where you need to go.” He shook his head dejectedly.

            “So, who cares? We just dealt with a storm.” Chase seemed to be the only one not concerned by the arrival of the storm.

            “No, this is a category five.” Mr. Davenport explained. “It’s much more dangerous.” He rubbed his chin. “I can’t believe this. I’m gonna have to call off the mission.”

            “Wha-no.” Chase protested. “There’s plenty of time before the center of the storm hits.” Madi laid her hand on his waist and comfortingly squeezed his other hand.

            “It’s just not worth the risk.” Mr. Davenport said dejectedly. “I just hope the storm doesn’t collapse the glacier.” He started walking towards the door.

            “But if that happens, you’ll lose the cytanium forever.” Chase pointed out.

            “I know.” Mr. Davenport turned and quickly exited the lab.

            “But we can do this!” Chase called after him.

            “Stand down, Flash Glue!” Bree scoffed. She walked behind Adam and stopped beside Chase. “You heard the man. No one is going. Not even hustle and muscle.” She added after a brief pause. Madi tightened her grip around Chase’s waist.

            “Yeah.” Adam’s voice was strangely muffled. “And muscle could use some help!” They all looked over to see him holding the block of ice that was his juice up to his face. It looked like his tongue was stuck to it.

            Bree rolled her eyes. In once motion, she reached over and ripped the ice off of Adam’s tongue. Adam cried out.

            “Aah that hurt.” He scrunched up his face. “Great, now I need some ice.” He added, his tongue hanging out of his mouth. He looked around for a moment before grabbing the block of ice Bree had just detached from his tongue. He shrugged his shoulders and stuck it back on his tongue. The rest of them rolled their eyes in unison.

            “Weird.” Bree judged before breezing out of the room. Leo and Adam followed.

            Chase shook his head. His arm dropped from her shoulders and he walked across the lab. “Chase?” Madi asked softly.

            “Yeah?” He sat down at the consul in front of the capsules. He fiddled with a few things, not really doing anything.

            Madi came up behind him and hugged his shoulders, resting her chin next to his neck. He ignored her. "Are you ok?" She asked softly.

            He sighed before answering definitively. "I'm fine."

            "Methinks thou doth protest too much." She said with a smirk. He rolled his eyes at her. "Are you sure?"

            "Absolutely. Why wouldn't I be?"

            "I know how much you hate being ignored." With one hand, she fiddled with the collar of his shirt absentmindedly. He clenched his jaw. "And you seem upset."

            "Why would I be upset? It's not like Mr. Davenport has zero faith in my abilities or anything like that." Chase sarcastically replied.

            "That's not true. I'm sure Mr. Davenport thinks you're very capable."

            "Then why won't he let us go on the mission?" He spun around on the chair and looked Madi dead in the eye. "If it's not because he doesn't think we can do it?"

            "Chase, you've never been in a winter storm. They're a lot more dangerous than tropical storms." Madi said.

            "Oh, so you think we can't do it too?" Chase accused.

            "That's not what I said." Madi shook her head. "I think if you worked quickly, you could get out before the storm really hits. But," She continued, seeing Chase's face, "If you don't get out, the storm might strand you in Antarctica for weeks with no heat. You'll freeze!"

            Chase made a decision. "That's just a risk I'll have to take." He stood up and walked over to where the mission gear was stored.

            "You're going anyways?" She followed close behind him. "After Mr. Davenport explicitly told you not to?"

            "Yep." He searched the closet for his winter suit.

            "You know Mr. Davenport'll be furious with you." She stood behind him, arms crossed.

            "I know."

            "And there's a decent chance you won't come back." There was a new tone to her voice, like she was fighting off tears. "Don't you care about that?"

            He stopped and sighed. Slowly, he turned to face her. Madi was indeed fighting tears. Her eyes were watery and she was biting her lip in an effort to contain them.

            "Madi!" He brought out one hand and cupped her cheek. His other hand reached out to her waist, pulling her closer. Worry clouded his face.

            "It's just, Chase, I've seen people freeze before." She shook her head. "I don't want to see it happen to you." A few tears leaked out of her eyes. Chase brushed them away with his thumb.

            "I'm not going to freeze." He said softly. He pressed their foreheads together. "I'm not stupid."

            "I know you're not." Her voice broke. She took a deep breath to compose herself and completely lost it. Madi pitched forward into Chase's chest.

            Chase wrapped both of his arms around her shoulders. He held her tight. "Madi..."

            "I know you're not stupid." She choked out through her sobs. "But neither was my cousin." She gripped his shirt.

            "What happened?" He asked gently.

            "He froze." She cried. "He got stuck out in a white-out blizzard and froze thirty feet from a building. That's how dangerous these storms can be!" She looked up at him, tear tracks glistening on her face. "You won't be able to see, every inch of exposed skin will be hit with snow being blown at almost 50 mph."

            "I know what a blizzard is, Madi."

            "But you've never lived through one. You live in Southern California, you've never seen a real blizzard." She gripped his shirt tighter.

            "Mr. Davenport has developed a line of winter wear good for temperatures up to -40ºF. I'll be fine." He wiped her cheeks gently.

            "It's not the temperatures that are dangerous, it's the wind."

            Chase sighed. "That may be, but I have to try." He shook his head. "I don't expect you to understand, but this is something I have to do." He turned and grabbed the winter suit.

            "Then I'm coming with you." She wrapped her hand around one of his wrists.

            "What? No." He pulled his arm out of her grasp. "That is not happening." He pointed at the ground definitively.

            "I don't expect you to understand, but this is something I have to do." She mimicked him. She folded her arms. Even with drying tears still glittering on her face, she looked intimidating.

            "No, it's too dangerous." He shook his head and walked past her. She followed right behind him.

            "I'm going with you and there's nothing you can do about it." She shot back at him. "Either you take me with you or I go upstairs and tell Mr. Davenport right now." Chase froze. He turned around slowly.

            "You wouldn't dare." He glowered threateningly.

            "Try me." She glowered back. "Chase, you need someone who has actual winter experience."

            "I've trained in winter survival. I'll be fine. You're not coming with me." He turned to leave before turning back and adding, "And you're not going to tell Mr. Davenport."

            "I am going with you. There is a big difference between winter survival and actually being in a severe winter." She folded her arms. "And how do you know I won't tell?"

            "Because I know you." He crossed the room and wrapped his arms around her. "You won't tell." She leaned into him.

            "I just don't want you to get hurt." She whispered into the crook of his neck.

            "And I don't want you getting hurt." He murmured in her ear. "Please, just stay here. That way I know you're safe."

            "Fine." She relented. "But I'm staying down here and monitoring your status. That's nonnegotiable."

            "Alright." He chuckled. "If it'll make you feel better."

            "It will." Madi smiled against his skin, her breath hot against his neck. "It will make me feel a lot better." She cuddled against his chest.

            She was really emotional today. This lack of sleep thing was really starting to get out of hand.

 

            “Chase, the last of the cytanium should be just a little ways up ahead and to your left.” Madi said into the comset she had ‘borrowed’ from Mr. Davenport.

            “Alright. I’ll collect it and head back to the ship.” It was difficult to gauge his tone through the earpiece but he sounded excited.

            “Stay safe.” She glanced at the satellite map on the holodesk behind her. “It looks like the snow above you is unstable.”

            “Roger that.”

            “What snow is unstable?” Bree’s voice suddenly sounded from behind her. “Who are you talking to?”

            Madi let out an undignified squeaking sound. “Madi?” Chase asked. “Is something wrong?”

            “No one, Bree.” Chase ‘Oooh’-ed in understanding. “There’s no one else here.”

            “Well, I can see that.” Bree folded her arms and popped out a hip. “And now that I’m thinking about it, that’s weird. Where’s Chase?”

            “Ah, I’m not sure.” Madi turned away quickly.

            “That’s even weirder than him not being here.” Bree took a few steps closed. Madi stepped between the speed demon and the holodesk. “The two of you are usually joined at the hip. Hey, why is the mission suit cabinet open?”

            Madi spun around and looked. It was indeed open. She smacked herself on the forehead.

            “Madi. Where. Is. Chase.” Bree asked slowly.

            “I. Don’t. Know.” Madi replied in the same tone of voice. “Maybe you would if you paid a bit more attention to him.” She snapped. She turned quickly and stormed out of the room.

            “Madi, you alright?” Chase asked in her ear.

            “I think so.” She sighed, leaning against a wall just outside of the lab. She shut her eyes and shook her head, ridding herself of memories that threatened to overwhelm her. “Just brings back some-“

            “Bad memories?” Chase interrupted. “One of these days, I’m going to sit you down and make you tell me your life story.”

            “You wouldn’t like it.” Madi looked down at her feet. “It’s pretty depressing. And scary.”

            “Whatever it is, I’m sure I can take it.”

            “I’m sure _you_ can.” She slid down to the ground and hid her face behind her knees. “I just don’t know if _I_ can.” She admitted softly.

            “Madi.” Chase’s tone was gentle, comforting.

            “I’m fine.” She heard a commotion from inside the lab. “Do you know what’s going on?”

            “Chase, where are you?” Mr. Davenport’s voice was sudden and loud. Madi winced and pulled the comset out of her ear. She stood up and walked back into the lab. Bree shot her a look. Madi shot Bree a look back.

            “What? I told you not to go! It’s too dangerous.” Mr. Davenport was looking at the holodesk and shouting into the comset. “You’re about to be trapped by a huge storm, get out of there! Now!” There was a pause. “No! Go and find shelter. That storm-wait, what was that noise?”

            Madi’s heart dropped into her stomach. Bree turned towards Mr. Davenport and softly said, “There was a major avalanche at Chase’s coordinates.”

            Mr. Davenport pushed the map down. “He might still be alive but we have to act fast.” Adam and Bree ran out of the room while Mr. Davenport rushed over to another computer.

            “Madi, why is Chase in Antarctica?” Mr. Davenport’s voice was cold.

            “How would I know?” She asked coolly.

            “Well, it’s not like you two keep any secrets from each other. Now, I’m not blaming you.” He crossed the room and put a hand on her shoulder. “All I want to know is what you said.”

            Madi jerked back out of his grip. “You think I talked him in to going down there?” She shouted. “I did everything I could to talk him out of it!” She was so angry and so tired and so close to loosing control completely wind swirled around the two of them, fanning her hair out.

            “I’m not accusing you. All I’m saying is he never did anything like this before you came around.” There was definitely an accusing tone in Mr. Davenport’s voice.

            “Maybe he wouldn’t feel the need to do something like this if you all thought of him as more than flash glue!” Her aura flared around her. “He wouldn’t feel the need to prove himself if you didn’t constantly knock him down!”

            “Hey, that is uncalled for!” Mr. Davenport protested.

            “Is it?” She glared at him.

            “Adam, Bree, you there?” He turned around, ignoring her. She folded her arms across her chest. “Great. My helicopter should be able to get you to Antarctica in a half hour.” He pushed a button on the set in his ear and added quietly, “I just hope it’s fast enough.”

            Madi spent the entire time while Adam and Bree were flying to Antarctica and trudging through the outermost layers of the storm looking for Chase staring at the holodesk. She stood with clenched fists and tense shoulders, staring at the map.

            Various memories clamored for attention on the edge of her consciousness: the time her cousin was missing in the storm, the time she was stuck in Jotunheim, when she was stuck in Hell, when her best friend was vaporized in front of her eyes. The helplessness she felt then was nothing compared to the helplessness she felt now. All she wanted was Chase to be here, telling her it would be all right.

            “Guys, that’s it. I’m calling off the rescue mission.” Mr. Davenport’s voice broke through her reverie. She turned to look at him. “I’m coming to get you now, the helicopter doesn’t have enough gas to get you back here.” He walked out of the room, Madi watching him with wide, disbelieving eyes.

            Her knees gave out and she fell to the floor. A strangled sob tore from her throat. She should have gone with. She could have found him easily but she had been too upset with Mr. Davenport to think of it. She curled into a ball against the waves of despair and grief and guilt.

            She should have made Chase take her with. She could have detected the avalanche coming and protected them. It would have been easy. An ice shield, powerful winds, fire, anything.

            Tears flooded from her eyes, dripping off of her nose. She didn’t know how long she lay there crying. It was long enough that her back screamed in pain from the awkward position. It must have been hours.

            Finally, she had no more tears to cry. She pushed herself up off the floor and leaned against the base of the desk. She wiped tears from her cheeks.

            Chase walked into the room, glancing around guiltily. Madi stood up so quickly her vision darkened for a moment.

            “Madi!” A pair of arms wrapped around her. She clutched at his body, holding him as if she would never let him go again. He was shaking almost as much as she was.

            “Chase.” She whispered. Half a days worth of frustration came up all at once. She jerked away from him and shouted, “Never do that to me again!” He blinked in surprise before nodding. He pulled her to his chest.

            “I won’t.” There was a pause. “I promise.”

            “Much as I hate to break up this precious reunion,” A dark voice came from behind Chase, “I thought we were on the clock.” Chase broke away, giving Madi a look at the owner of the voice.

            The man looked like an awkward combination of Chase and Mr. Davenport. He had an evil look on his face. This must be the Douglas she had heard about.

            “What the hell is he doing here?” Madi took a protective step forward, placing herself between Chase and Douglas. She'd had enough of being helpless that day.

            "'He' was invited here." Douglas sarcastically answered. "By your boyfriend there." He gestured at Chase.

            "Chase, what's going on?" She turned back to face Chase.

            He cupped her chin with one hand and leaned forward until their foreheads where touching. "Do you trust me?" He whispered. She nodded. He reached out with his other hand, lacing their fingers together.

            "Come on, let's get this done!" Douglas clapped impatiently. "Donny could be back anytime now."

            Chase crossed over to the holodesk. "Do you have the flash drive?" He asked. Douglas nodded and handed it over. Chase plugged it in to the desk. He sifted through the files for a moment before selecting one. He dragged it over to the drive. A download bar popped up, showing the progress.

            "Good job, Chase." Douglas walked over and put his arm around the boy's shoulders. "Pretty soon, you'll be the most powerful bionic human in the world." Chase faked a smile that seemed to convince Douglas. The man started walking around the room, looking at all the equipment.

            Chase sighed. Madi slid under his arm. He leaned heavily against her. She looked up at him and wrapped her arms around him.

            "So what's going on, Chase?" She whispered. He pressed his nose in her hair. His arm tightened around her.

            "He pulled me out of the snow." He said quietly. "He says he can upgrade my chip."

            "You don't believe him?"

            "I believe him. I just couldn't care less. I've got a plan." Madi pulled up the sleeve of her left arm, exposing the tattoo.

            "Just say the word and I'll barbecue him." He smiled.

            "I don't think that will be necessary." She nodded. "Still, keep on your toes. This guy's unpredictable." She nodded again.

            An hour passed. Douglas continued wandering around the lab. Madi and Chase stood pressed together next to the desk. Mr. Davenport walked into the room, facing away. He was speaking to Adam and Bree. Douglas hid behind something or other when the door opened.

            "Don't give up, guys. There's still a chance we can find him." He stopped suddenly when he saw Chase. "Chase!" He shouted in surprise.

            "You're alive." Bree said disbelievingly. Adam gasped.

            "Well, there's no need to sound so shocked." Madi muttered. Bree shot her a look.

            Douglas came out from behind Madi and Chase. Adam gasped again.

            "It's evil Uncle Daddy!" He said, pointing. Madi gave him a strange look that no one seemed to notice. Douglas laughed evilly.

            "Back away from him, Chase." Mr. Davenport ordered.

            "It's too late, Donald." Douglas put an arm around Chase's shoulders. Madi took a step back. "He's with me now." He pulled Chase to him in an awkward one-armed hug. Chase glowered.

            "What?" Mr. Davenport, Adam and Bree all looked at Chase in confusion.

            "Chase, what's going on?" Bree asked.

            "That's what I said." Madi said quietly. The speedster glared at her.

            "It's true." Douglas gloated. "I've finally taken back what was stolen from me." Madi looked between the two groups. Chase looked uncomfortable next to Douglas. He was leaning away from the man. The rest didn't seem to notice.

            Madi inhaled sharply as realization dawned. She smiled and pulled her left sleeve farther up her arm.

            Leo suddenly ran into the room, holding the ice maker gun thing from earlier. "All right, Big D. I know I'm not supposed to touch your stuff, but you know how sometimes things happen, and sometimes things happen when you really don't want them to happen, and that just happens to be what just happened." He spewed out quickly. He was waving the ice gun around in a way that made Madi more than a little uncomfortable. "Upstairs." He added.

            Mr. Davenport pointed awkwardly, hiding it behind his other hand, at Douglas. Leo followed the finger and screamed. He took a few steps away.

            "Whatever you're up to, Douglas, you're not gonna get away with it." Mr. Davenport directed the conversation back. Just then the holodesk beeped as the download finished.

            "I just did." Douglas walked behind Chase to where the flash drive was plugged in. "The download's finished." He pulled it out with a sense of victory, holding it up for all to see. "I now have the power to give Chase all three bionic abilities." He laughed triumphantly. "And now no one will be able to stop us."

            "Actually, they can." Chase said in his 'I'm much smarter than you and just won this' tone. Madi smirked. "That USB drive you're holding is completely useless." She cheered internally.

            "What?!" Douglas looked at the piece of metal and plastic in his hand. "Well then what just took an hour and a half to download?" He gestured at the desk.

            "A list of everything Adam's ever eaten." Madi laughed as Adam's face fell.

            "Not my incredible edibles!"

            "You double-crossed me." Douglas accused. Madi rolled her eyes.

            "Did you really think I would betray my own family?" Chase asked in the 'How stupid are you' tone.           He stepped forward menacingly, forcing Douglas to step back.

            "Well, it's always worked for me." Douglas replied. He shrugged.

            "Even if you could offer me every ability there is, I would never go to your side." Chase continued. He took another step forward. "We're a team. And teams never quit on each other." He finished.

            "All right!" Douglas said. "You got me." He threw his hands up in surrender. "What do you say we just..." He walked around Chase, towards Leo. The boy had the ice gun sitting on the desk. "Put all this behind us..." Douglas walked past Leo, into an open are behind him. Leo retreated to beside Chase.

            Madi tensed. She recognized this maneuver. He was positioning himself so he could see everyone in the room easily and had a clear shot at the largest group.

            "And get down to the business of healing this family?" Adam was nodding. No one else seemed to be falling for it. "Am I right?" Douglas asked. "Bring it in, people. Let's hug it out." He opened his arms

            Adam took a few steps forward with his arms out hopefully. "Adam." Mr. Davenport said in a warning tone. The boy put his arms down and sheepishly walked back to Mr. Davenport's side.

            "Well, you know what they say." Douglas put a hand behind him.

            Madi jumped into action. She put a hand to her tattoo and closed her eyes, concentrating. This was difficult.

            "If you can't join 'em..." Douglas pulled out a gun. He pointed it directly at Chase.

            Chase shouted, "Get down!" Madi's aura flared around her. The room grew colder as all the heat was sucked away. Just as Douglas was about to fire, he was suddenly encased in a large block of ice.

            Chase, who had grabbed the ice gun but hadn't pulled the trigger looked around in confusion for a moment. His gaze landed on Madi, panting, with her left arm outstretched. Her eyes were slowly fading back to normal from the flat disks they had become.

            "Get away from my boyfriend." She said quietly. Chase bit his lip to keep from smiling.

            Everyone slowly stood up from behind whichever table they had hidden behind. Mr. Davenport had a huge grin on his face. Adam and Bree looked relieved. Leo looked impressed.

            "Wow!" He said to Madi, a look of awe on his face. "You froze him!" Chase set the ice gun back on the desk. "Um...now, exactly how would someone go about unfreezing someone?" Leo asked. "Cause it is not the button located here, here, here, here, here, or here." He pointed at a different button with each 'here'.

            Mr. Davenport looked at the ground in confusion. Chase hit the desk and walked around to the man.

            "Mr. Davenport, I'm really sorry. I know I should have warned you about Douglas." He said quickly. "I just knew that if I could get him back here, then we could trap him for good."

            Mr. Davenport clapped Chase on the shoulder. "Good work, Chase. You make a great double agent."

            "Thank you." Chase said genuinely. Madi smiled from behind the desk. "Oh, and I almost forgot." Chase pulled a bag out of his pocket. "Here's your cytanium." He said with a grin on his face.

            "Oh!" Mr. Davenport grabbed the bag and did a little dance around the room, chanting, "Money, money, money, money, money!" Everyone was looking at him strangely. He realized what he was doing and covered quickly. "Sorry, I mean, 'Thank you'."

            He walked over to Douglas and began mocking the block of ice while Leo stood looking nervous. Madi came up behind Chase and wrapped her arms around his waist. She pressed her cheek into his shoulder blade.

            "I'm glad you're safe." She said quietly. "You scared me there." He turned around in her arms. She cocked an eyebrow at the stupid little grin that graced his face.

            "What?" He asked.

            "What's with the look?" She poked his cheek.

            "Oh, nothing." He leaned forward, touching their foreheads together.

            "What?" Madi giggled. "Are you excited that you succeeded? There was never any doubt." Chase shook his head. "Then what?" She gently hit his chest.

            "It's just..." He let out a breath of laughter. "That was the first time you called me your boyfriend." She blushed.

            "I suppose it was." She murmured. "Is that ok?" She looked up at him shyly. He gently kissed her forehead.

            "It's ok with me. Is it ok with you?" He asked softly.

            "Yeah, it's ok with me." Chase's grin widened.

            "Ok, then." Madi pressed her face into his chest, grinning herself now. Chase hugged her tightly.

            Bree's voice interrupted their moment. "So, what are we gonna do with frozen Uncle Dougie?" The two of them broke apart and stepped over to the small group surrounding the frozen man. Chase laced their fingers together.

            "I don't know. We could probably ship him off to one of my offshore facilities." Mr. Davenport answered. "Or we could get some rock salt and make the evilest batch of ice cream ever." He added enthusiastically.

            Adam nodded in agreement while Madi burst out laughing. Everyone else looked at Mr. Davenport like he had lost his mind.

            "Speaking of the 'unfreeze' button..." Leo chimed in. He gave a very fake, very wide, smile.

            "We weren't speaking of the 'unfreeze' button." Chase pointed out.

            "Well, we probably should." Leo looked at Chase with fear in his eyes. "You should follow me." He led them all upstairs to the living room.

            There were two giant blocks of ice. Madi could make out the slightly distorted figures of Tasha and that girl Leo liked, Janelle.

            "Yep. They're frozen." Bree said, turning around so her hair fanned out around her. Mr. Davenport stood on the couch so he could see over everyone. Madi shook her head sadly and leaned against Chase in exhaustion.

            "Ooh, ice!" Adam said excitedly. He walked towards the Tasha-sicle with his tongue stuck out. Bree grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

            "We have to fix this!" Leo said desperately. "Janelle's mom will be here any minute!"

            "Ok, I'll just use my heat vision." Adam offered.

            "No, then Janelle would see you using your bionics." Chase looked at Adam while being careful to not disturb Madi. He wrapped an arm around her waist to hold her upright as she struggled to remain conscious.

            "Not while she's frozen in suspended animation." Mr. Davenport chimed in.

            They all looked at each other for a moment before Leo said, "You hear the man! Light 'em up!" Adam stepped forward to zap Tasha but Leo stopped him. "Oh, wait. On second thought, these ladies are gonna be really upset." He looked between the two frozen women. "I need a running start." He ran out of the house, sprinting down the drive.

            Adam went to start again but Mr. Davenport stopped him. "Wait! Me, too." He followed Leo.

            "Step back, guys." Adam made Bree and Chase, still supporting Madi, take a step backwards. Settling himself, he shot his heat vision at Tasha, then Janelle. They were both dripping.

            "What...happened?” Janelle asked angrily.

            "Leo happened." Tasha responded in the same tone. They turned their gaze on Adam, who lamely pointed at the door. Both ladies sprinted outside, screaming for Leo.

            "We should probably go help him." Bree said.

            "Yeah." Adam agreed. "The poor little guy can't take care of himself." The pair ran out after Tasha and Janelle.

            Madi snored softly. "Oh, honey." Chase sat down on the couch. He pulled Madi down with him. She stirred against him.

            "Huh?" She looked up at him blearily. He shook his head. "Hey, where'd everybody go?" She looked around.

            "Either chasing Leo, or chasing the people chasing Leo." Chase outlined.

            "Oh." She nodded, like it was an everyday occurrence. A yawn cracked her lips. "I'm so tired." She mumbled. "I did not get enough sleep last night."

            "How much sleep did you get?" Chase asked. She shrugged. "No, really, how much sleep did you get?"

            She scrunched up her face in thought. "One...no, half an hour." Chase's eyes widened. She saw and added, "I know, I did really well." His jaw dropped.

            He thought back over the last few weeks. Madi had seemed unusually tired for a while now. It was a wonder he hadn't noticed earlier.

            "Is that a normal occurrence for you?" He asked. She nodded sleepily. "How long has this been going on?"

            Madi smiled. "What, you're my boyfriend for fifteen minutes and you're already snooping in my business?" She asked. Exhaustion seemed to be getting to her: her words were slurring a little. She seemed almost drunk.

            "I'm worried about you, Madi." Chase cupped her cheek. "How long has it been going on?"

            She shrugged. "A few weeks? I don't know." Seeing Chase's face, she continued. "I'm fine, Chase. Really, I..." She trailed off as her eyes drooped shut.

            "You know, I might be inclined to believe you if you weren't falling asleep in the middle of a sentence." Chase stood. He picked her up and cradled her against his chest. "You're going to bed." He carried her up the stairs to the room she had used when she had passed out.

            She leaned her head against his shoulder. "That's probably a good idea."

            "I know it's a good idea." He shouldered open the door. She swayed when he put her down. “I’ll get something for you to sleep in.” He hurried across the hall.

            Chase rummaged through his dresser until he found a pair of sweatpants that were small on him and a t-shirt. He ran back over to her room. Like a gentleman, thought, he knocked before entering.

            “Yeah.” She weakly called. He turned the knob slowly.

            She was sitting on the bed looking like she was already asleep. He handed the clothes to her. She smiled her thanks. He nodded.

            He turned to give her some privacy while changing. When she was finished he turned back around.

            He had to admit, part of him felt extremely satisfied seeing her in his clothing. His shirt hung off her and made her look so tiny. He bit his lip as she smiled sheepishly.

            “Alright, now it’s time for you to sleep.” He shook himself out of the daze. She nodded.

            Chase took a few steps forward and gently led her over to the bed. She obediently followed him. He helped her lay down and pulled the covers over her. He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

            He made a move to leave but Madi grabbed his wrist. She looked at him through sleep-hazed eyes. "Please stay." She yawned. "I don't like being alone."

            "Alright." He sat on the bed beside her. He put an arm around her shoulders. She cuddled into his chest and yawned again. "Hey, quit it." He joked, yawning himself. She laughed sleepily.

            "Sorry." She mumbled into his shirt. There was silence for a few moments. "Thanks for staying." Madi said after a few moments.

            "No problem." Chase kissed the top of her head. She slid down into a laying position, pulling him down off of the headboard of the bed. Their heads hit the one pillow together, facing each other. "You should go to sleep now." He reached out with one hand and cupped her cheek.

            She sighed. "I know." Her eyes drooped in exhaustion.

            "So _sleep_." He commanded gently. "You need the rest." He brushed hair out of her face.

            "I know." Madi paused. "I try to sleep, I really do. But sometimes, I just...I can't." She looked at him with red-rimmed, sleep deprived eyes.

            "Insomnia?" Chase asked. She shook her head. "Loud family?" Another head shake. "Then what?" She looked reluctant to answer. "What is it? Come on, Mads." He prompted. "Tell me."

            "Nightmares." She said finally. "Alright?" Her body seemed to cave inwards. She blinked slowly, struggling to raise her eyelids. Chase wrapped his arms around her tightly. He pulled her to his chest.

            "Sleep." He insisted. "I've got you." He ran the fingers of one hand through her hair. "I've got you." He repeated solemnly.

            Madi took a deep breath, inhaling Chase's scent. She closed her eyes reluctantly. She was scared of the nightmares that always accompanied sleep for her. But she felt comfortable and safe in Chase's arms. Like that time a few weeks ago on the couch, he was so warm. She drifted off to sleep.

            Chase held Madi firmly. He sighed in relief as she fell asleep. Her exhaustion was so acute, it radiated off her in waves. She desperately needed the sleep. The human body wasn't designed to go that long without rest. He assumed caffeine and adrenaline were the only things that had kept her going this long.

            She was only asleep for a few moments before Tasha poked her head in. Chase propped himself up on one elbow with a finger over his lips, the universal signal for 'be quiet'.

            Tasha nodded in understanding. She crept over to the bed on tiptoes. "Are you two alright?" She whispered.

            "We're fine, Tasha." Chase whispered back. "Now please, leave. I don't want her to wake up." He shifted closer protectively.

            "Alright." Tasha held her hands up in mock surrender. "I was just checking on you." She gently kissed Chase's cheek in a motherly fashion. She pulled the covers over the two of them and patted his hair. "Sleep well." She whispered before tiptoeing back out of the room.

            Chase watched her go with a bemused expression on his face. He slowly brought one hand up to his cheek. No one had ever...that was the first time...

            Madi suddenly tensed beside him. She curled into a ball. Soft whimpers sounded.

            Chase pulled her closer to his chest. He held her as she shook in her sleep. "Shhh, shhh." He gently murmured in her ear. After a few moments, whatever it was seemed to pass. She relaxed against him.

            He breathed a sigh of relief. She nuzzled into the crook of his neck. He closed his eyes. The last thing he heard before falling asleep was Tasha fending off Mr. Davenport.

            "Donald, you can't go in there.'' Tasha crossed her arms and stood in front of the door.

            "But I need to go in there." Mr. Davenport whined. "My book is in there." He gestured at the door.

            "No." She refused to move. "Madi's sleeping in there and I don't think she sleeps well at home."

            "Fine." He gave up while he was ahead. "Then I'll just get some work done. Where's Chase? I'll need his help."

            "Oh. He's in there with Madi." She pointed at the door. Mr. Davenport sighed and shook his head.

            "Well, what am I supposed to do?"

            "I don't know, go watch some TV." Tasha snapped. "Just don't wake them!"

            "Why? Why can I not wake two teenagers in my house so I can get my book so I'm not wasting my time?" With every 'my', he placed both hands on his chest dramatically.

            "Because." Tasha stepped towards him and pouted slightly. "They're adorable together." Mr. Davenport sighed again.

            "Fine." He shook his head. "I'm just going to go to bed early then." He kissed her forehead. "Goodnight, Tasha."

            "Goodnight, Donald."


	7. Return of Matt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Madi learns of a new threat to planet Earth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I'm crap at updating this! On the bright side, I think I know how I want to end this. There should only be a couple more chapters but I'm still going to leave the number unknown because I don't know how many there will be.

            The first thing Madi noticed when she woke was that she wasn't woken up by nightmares. The next thing was she wasn't alone. Immediately after that was that the other person had an arm draped around her waist and their breath was hot on the back of her neck, gently blowing her hair. Then she remembered asking Chase to stay with her.

            She rubbed her eyes, blinking slowly. She stretched her arms above her head. Chase groaned. His arm tightened around her.

            "Mmm." He pressed a gentle kiss to the back of her neck. "How'd you sleep?" He asked blearily.

            She rolled over in his arms, placing her hands on his chest. She hummed contentedly. "Like a rock." She kissed his jaw.

            "Good." He tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear. He smiled. "You look better. Healthier." He corrected himself. It was true. The bags under her eyes were less pronounced, her skin was less pale.

            She grinned back at him. "I feel better. Healthier." She mimicked him. He rolled his eyes.

            "Want some breakfast?" He asked. She scrunched her eyebrows in thought.

            "Yes." She paused. "But the kitchen seems so far away." Chase laughed gently.

            "I think I have a solution." He pushed himself up off the bed. Madi's whine at the lose of his warmth quickly turned into a squeak of surprise as he scooped her up and carried her out of the room. She laughed and gripped at his shirt.

            He carried her down the stairs at the end of the hall to the kitchen. Tasha was already there making pancakes. She looked up and smiled at them when they entered.

            "Hey, you two." She said brightly. "What's going on?" She asked hesitantly once she saw Chase carrying Madi.

            Chase set Madi down at the island in the kitchen. She rolled her eyes with a huge grin on her face. He smiled radiantly back at her. She grabbed a mug of coffee from the line Tasha had placed on the counter and gently blew on it.

            "Madi didn't want to get up." He said in explanation to Tasha. "So I improvised." He shrugged.

            "Awe." Tasha cooed. "That's so romantic!" She flipped the pancakes on the griddle over. Chase looked at Madi, his eyebrows up and a smug smirk on his face.

            "What?" She asked.

            "Told you I was romantic." He winked. Madi scoffed and play-slapped his shoulder. He faked a pained expression, grabbing his arm where she had smacked him. Adam and Bree just happened to walk in right then.

            "Hey!" Adam shouted indignantly. "Don't hit Chase. That's my job!" To emphasize his point, he punched Chase's other shoulder. Chase cried out in actual pain.

            "Watch it, Adam." Madi said threateningly, cradling the mug of coffee in her hands and taking a sip. She activated her aura just enough to cover her eyes in the color menacingly. "This is my first cup of caffeine." Her voice echoed a little. The smell of chlorine filled the room. Adam's eyes widened in fear. He stepped behind Bree quickly.

            "Hey, don't involve me!" Bree protested. "I am not helping you!" She skittered sideways. Madi triumphantly took another sip of coffee, eyebrows up.

            Pineapple mixed with chlorine. Madi sighed. In activating her aura, she triggered Chase's as well. The constant flaring had stopped since they had been dating but usage still caused a reaction.

            Chase grinned at her. She smirked and bopped his nose. A blue and yellow spark crackled down his cheek. He scrunched his nose in a grimace.

            "That tickles." He whined.

            "Awe, poor baby." She fake pouted at him and tapped his nose a few more times. Several sparks raced down his face.

            "Nnnnyah!" He shook his head in an attempt to dislodge them. The result was simply ridiculously silly looking. Madi giggled. "Oh, you think that's funny?" Chase reached forward and seized her sides.

            She screamed. She involuntarily kicked outward, narrowly missing Chase's rib cage. Tasha set a plate of pancakes on the island.

            "Hey, no horsing around in my kitchen!" She scolded.

            "And Madi," The girl jumped a little at Mr. Davenport's voice. She hadn't heard him come in. "Try to not break Chase's ribs."

            Chase didn't miss the way Madi had tensed when Mr. Davenport first spoke. The way her eyes had darted towards all the exits as if making sure they were there. He certainly didn't miss the way she tried to cover it up by looking around the room randomly. Or the way her breath sped up.

            It was little things like this that made Chase want to interrogate her but he didn't. He didn't know what forcing her to relive whatever experience(s?) had caused what was obviously PTSD could do. It might make her better but it could make her a lot worse.

            So instead he reached out and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She leaned in to his touch, her eyes fluttering shut. She took a few deep breaths.

            "You alright?" He asked softly. She shrugged. “Come on, Madi. Talk to me.” He urged. She pursed her lips.

            “Define ‘alright’.” She said after a moment. Chase’s eyebrows met and he looked at her.

            “What do you mean?”

            “Do you mean in this very moment or do you mean in general? It’s a very different question based on the definition.” She slipped an arm around his waist.

            “I suppose it is.” He thought for a minute. “Are you alright in this very moment.” He clarified.

            “Then yeah, I’m alright.” She cuddled against his chest. “In this very moment.” Chase tucked some hair behind her ear.

            “Implying that sometimes that aren’t this very moment you’re not alright?” He asked quietly. “You know you can talk to me about these things.” Madi took a deep breath but before she had a chance to respond, Tasha interrupted their quiet conversation.

            “The pancakes are going to be gone if you two don’t hurry up.” She said, fending off Adam’s attempts to snag the last few pancakes. “I can’t hold him off much longer.” She was already struggling.

            “It’s fine, Tasha.” Madi said. “I’m not hungry anyways.” She sighed. “I should probably be getting home.”

            “Oh, don’t worry, sweetie.” Tasha waved her hand. “I called your parents. They know you spent the night here.”

            “Like they care.” Madi stood up and stretched. “They probably didn’t even notice I was gone until you pointed it out.” Chase grimaced. He hated hearing about her parents and their disinterest.

            “I washed your clothes.” Tasha said softly. “I’ll go get them for you.” She walked out of the kitchen. Chase grabbed Madi’s hand. She squeezed his fingers.

            “So do you feel better now that you’ve gotten a full nights sleep? He asked softly. She smiled and nodded. “Notice, I didn’t even say ‘I told you so’.”

            “Because you didn’t say so. All you did was tell me to go to sleep.” She poked his side. He squirmed.

            “And how would you know?” He retaliated with a poke to her stomach. She giggled. “You were barely awake.”

            Madi nodded and shrugged in reluctant agreement. Tasha walked back in the room with an armload of clothes. Madi thanked her and headed to the bathroom to change. Mr. Davenport looked at Chase.

            “So, would you care to explain?” He asked, gesturing at the stairs Madi had just gone up.

            Chase sighed. “She hadn’t had a full night’s sleep in weeks. She clearly doesn’t sleep well at home. What else was I supposed to do?”

            “Donald, just drop it. It’s not a big deal.” Tasha cut in.

            “If it becomes a habit, it’s a big deal.” Mr. Davenport crossed his arms. “Chase needs to be in his capsule. There’s a reason they’re there.”

            "Mr. Davenport, it was one night." Bree cut in. "And Chase is fine." Mr. Davenport sighed.

            "But that's not the point. He-" Madi descended the stairs at that moment. Chase ran over to her, cutting Mr. Davenport off.

            Madi tripped off the last stair. Chase caught her before she hit the ground. She glanced up at him.

            "Sorry." She mumbled against his chest.

            "I don't mind." He grinned. Madi rolled her eyes.

            "You're ridiculous." She said through a smile. He nodded and set her on her feet. She snaked an arm around his waist.

            Chase smiled warmly. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

            "Alright, well, if the two love birds over there are done, Tasha and I are going on a little trip to LA. We're taking the jet and we probably won't be back for a few days." Mr. Davenport clapped his hands and pointed at them. "I want you all to train hard while I'm gone, no slacking off just because I'm not here. All right?"

            "Fine." Bree shrugged. Adam nodded. Chase looked at Madi. Madi looked back at Chase.

            "Alright." He answered after a minute.

            "Great." Mr. Davenport grabbed Tasha's hand. "You guys go get started on that. Tasha and I are going to pack."

            "Cool, come on guys." Leo headed towards the elevator. "I'll power up the virtual simulator."

            "Do you want me to walk you home first?" Chase offered to Madi. She shook her head.

            "I'll be fine. It's not that far.” She flipped her hand. “Besides, I can take care of myself.” He smiled.

            “I know you can.” He reached out with one hand and tucked her hair behind her ear. “Doesn’t mean I don’t worry.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m serious, Mads.” He gave her a gentle peck on the cheek. “Text me when you get home?”

            “Sure, Mom.” He grinned at her. “I’ll text you.” She kissed his cheek and headed out. He shook his head.

            “Chase, let's go." Leo led the way down to the lab. He messed around with the computer at his 'mission specialist' desk. The holographic simulator raised up out of the floor.

            Chase wasn't really able to concentrate until he got the text from Madi, saying 'Home, safe and sound, just like I said.' After that, the day got a lot better: at least, until Adam made duplicates of himself.

 

            Madi fell on her bed the second she was in her room. The full night of sleep had done her good but she still felt like death itself. Wasn't there some kind of medication for nightmares? She should really ask Chase.

            She was exhausted to the point that time seemed fluid: moments melded together with no discernible beginning or end. Before she knew it, several hours had passed and her phone rang.

            It took a moment of bleary fumbling around but she managed to answer it without hanging up.

            “Hello?” She yawned.

            “Oh, did I wake you? It’s really not that important, you need your sleep.” Chase seemed to be talking really slow.

            “No, I wasn’t sleeping. What’s up?” Madi rolled over and propped herself up on her elbows.

            “If you’re sure, Adam somehow managed to make duplicates of himself. I was just wondering if you knew how to get rid of stuff like that.”

            “Well, if they were created through the use of a machine, they’ll be aura-less so a burst of energy should get rid of them.” She took a breath. “Hey, why are you talking so slow?”

            “What are you talking about?” His voice seemed to be slowing down. “You’re-“ All of a sudden, his voice stopped entirely.

            “Chase?” She sat up. “Chase, you there?” Then she noticed the constant ticking of her clock had stopped. “Oh, shit.”

            “Hello, sweetie. How’ve you been liking those dreams I’ve been sending you?” Matt’s voice seemed to emanate from everywhere all at once.

            “Get out of my head!” Madi focused to find the trace of Matt’s red aura and drove it out. She sent a wall of her own blue energy to line her room. The blue solidified into a thin lining harder than steel. Something knocked on her window.

            “Hey, gorgeous.” He smiled creepily. “You gonna let me in or you gonna keep me out here in the cold all bight?”

            “You’re not cold, you froze time, asshole. The temperature has no effect on you.” She grit her teeth and thickened the barrier in front of him. “The window stays shut.”

            “Come on, beautiful.” He winked. “I’ll make it worth your time.”

            “Go away!”

            “Look, I’m trying to save you.” Matt put a hand on the window. It glowed red and started burning through both the glass and the barrier Madi had conjured.

            “Like I believe you.” She focused a burst of wind and sent Matt tumbling backwards through the air.

            “It’s the truth!” He shouted. “There’s a huge asteroid heading towards the Earth and I can get you in a shelter.”

            “I don’t care!” Madi threw the window open. “I would rather the entire Earth was destroyed then have to accept help from you!”

            “Fine!” Matt threw his hands up in the air. “Have it your way. I don’t care.” He pushed his hands into his pockets and walked away.

            As soon as time had unfrozen, Madi ran to her computer. She easily hacked into NASA’s satellite feed and saw what they hadn’t. They almost certainly hadn’t because the Dark Elders had manipulated their sight.

            She jumped up and ran out of her room. In her haste, she forgot to grab her phone. Chase could vaguely be heard on the other end.

            “Hello?” He asked. “Hey, you still there?”


	8. The Beginning of the End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this chapter is so short! And that is took so long to update!

            Madi didn’t notice Chase pacing the lab until she ran into him. To be fair, Chase didn’t notice Madi running into the lab until she ran into him. The two of them fell to the ground in a tangled mess of limbs. Mad rubbed at her forehead. Judging by the soreness of his jaw, she must have smacked it against Chase’s chin.

            “Ow.” She mumbled.

            “Are you ok?” He helped her stand up. “Is something going on?” Her eyes snapped open.

            “Asteroid. There’s an asteroid, Chase, we have to do something, it’s not very far away, we need a laser or something, we need-” Chase cut her off.

            “Whoa, whoa, whoa.” He put a finger on her lips. “Slow down. There’s an asteroid?” Madi took a deep breath.

            “There’s a huge asteroid heading for Mission Creek. NASA hasn’t noticed it because there are some pretty powerful, evil beings out there making sure they don’t notice.” She knotted her hands in his shirt. “But it’s coming and it’s gonna wipe out half the Western Hemisphere.”

            “No, honey, that’s not possible.” Chase brushed her hair away from her face. “Mr. Davenport has satellites set up. They would have picked up an asteroid that big.” She shook her head. “Look, I’ll show you.” He crossed the lab to the holodesk and pulled up the feed from the satellites. “See? No asteroid.”

            “I told you, there are powerful things making sure you don’t see it.” She walked over to the other side of the holodesk and started fiddling with the controls.

            “What are you doing?”

            “Rebooting the system.” A bit of her aura leaked out over the desk. “And driving the interfering forces out.” The feed flickered as it came back on and almost immediately, Mr. Davenport’s various alarms starting going off.

            Chase’s brow furrowed. “What?” He messed around with the controls. His face fell. “Oh, my God. This thing might be too close to stop.” He looked up at Madi, ashen faced. “I don’t know if there’s anything we can do.”

            “There has to be something!” Madi was calming down a little now but she still felt frantic. He sighed. Adam, Bri, and Leo ran in just then.

            “What is going on? This is the craziest day in history!” Leo exclaimed. “There are clones of Adam running around, Perry is upstairs waiting for Kari, and now whatever this is!”

            “Ah, I forgot about Perry and Kari!” Chase smacked his forehead. Madi took a deep breath and forced herself into an emotionless state her brother called ‘mission mode’. Panicking would help no one right now.

            “I’ll deal with Perry. Chase, you fill them in.” She hurried up stairs. She ignored protests coming form behind her and didn’t see the small smile grace Chase’s face.

 

            Chase had been worried. There was a huge asteroid heading for the Earth. Madi seemed to be panicking. Sure, he’d seen her panicked before but she’d always seemed like the kind of person who kept her head in a crisis.

            Then she calmed down and took control of the situation. That had calmed Chase more than anything. But now wasn’t the time to wonder at Madi’s resolve. He did as instructed and filled everyone in.

            “I told you this was the craziest day in history.” Leo folded his arms. “So how are we going to deal with Doomsday?” Chase just shrugged. “Big D has a new laser in the works. What if we shot the asteroid with that?”

            “We don’t have enough power to destroy it. The laser would be ineffective.” He shook his head.

            “What about a laser?” Madi walked back in.

            “You got rid of Perry?” Chase asked.

            “Yeah.” She nodded. “I showed her a fake CIA badge and told her to get lost. She got out of here in a hurry.” She crossed her arms. “Now, what about a laser?”

            “Mr. Davenport has a laser drill in development but we have nothing to power it to the point needed to destroy the asteroid.” Madi closed her eyes and breathed deeply.

            “If we can get the laser to my house, I think we can get enough power.” She reached up and pulled her hair into a ponytail. “Getting it there will be the only problem.” She folded her arms.

            “I can carry it.” Adam raised his hand. “It’s not even that heavy.” He stuck his hands in his armpits.

            Madi nodded. “Alright. Bri.” The speedster jumped up at her name. “Run ahead and tell Bryce we’re coming and to get out of the Drain Room.”

            Bri nodded. There was a blur, she was gone for a few seconds, and then she was back. “Done.”

            “Good.” Madi turned to Leo. “Where’s the laser?”

            “I’ll go get it.” Leo turned and ran.

            “Hurry!” She yelled after him. “Chase, when we get there, you’re going to have to hook the laser up to the Drain Room. I’ll go in and supply the power for it.”

            “What’s the Drain Room?” Adam asked.

            “Auratic energy can build up in your system and if you don’t drain some of it off, it’ll wreak havoc on your internal systems.” Leo came stumbling back in, dragging a large machine behind him.

            “I’ve got the laser!” He panted. “Adam, little help?” He gasped. “This is really heavy.”

            “Sure, little buddy.” Adam crossed the room and picked up the machine with one hand. “I got it for you.”

            “We need to move fast. If the asteroid is too close to Earth, there’s nothing we can do.” Chase took Madi’s hand. She squeezed it comfortingly. “Let’s get to your house and get it set up.” Madi nodded.

            “Hopefully no one will get in our way.” The slightly ominous undertone to her voice sent a small shiver down Chase’s spine. “Let’s go.” She led the way out of the lab. Adam followed with the laser, Bree running ahead again to clear the roads.

            Leo looked over at Chase. “Do you really think this’ll work?”

            Chase sighed. “I hope so.”


	9. The Ending of the End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm just planning on leaving this off here. I think it's as good an ending as I can do with this. I might come back and add an epilogue of sorts but I don't think so.

            Bryce was surprised when that-one-girl-who’s-related-to-his-sister’s-boyfriend ran into the house and started yelling about the Drain Room. He was confused when she ran back out after saying something about an asteroid. But he wrote it off as another one of his sister’s crazy schemes and went back to his book.

            He was annoyed when Madi stormed into the house, doing more shouting. He was irritated when that-one-really-hot-guy-who’s-related-to-his-sister’s-boyfriend followed dragging a large machine of some kind. He was fed up and put his foot down when his-sister’s-boyfriend started hooking up the machine to the Drain Room console.

            He grabbed Madi’s arm and dragged her off to the side. “What is going on here?” Madi gave him a look that could have scared the Boogie-Man. Bryce just stared back.

            “There’s a giant asteroid hurtling towards Earth.” She said through gritted teeth. “I would appreciate if you would get out of my way, since you’re obviously not going to help.”

            “Fine. Be that way.” Bryce let go of her arm. She immediately stalked back over to his-sister’s-boyfriend, who slung an arm around her, whispering something in her ear. “If you want me, I’ll be in Uncle Prometheus’s new Shadow Realm, waiting this whole thing out.” No one even glanced his way. He rolled his eyes and swiftly walked out of the house.

 

            “Everything alright?” Chase asked softly in Madi’s ear. She just nodded stiffly.

            “Is everything hooked up?” She wrapped her arm around his waist

            “Yeah, as far as I can tell. Leo’s trying to aim it and everything.”

            “Which is kind of difficult to do through a ceiling!” The boy in question shouted over the laser. As he spoke, the computer beeped with an alert that the laser’s targeting system had been plugged into the house’s satellite dish, allowing for targeting. “Never mind!” Leo called.

            ‘Warning: impact imminent. Window of opportunity estimated at five minutes.’ A robotic voice sounded from the computer.

            “We’ve got to move quickly.” Madi pulled away from Chase, heading towards the door to the room.

            “Wait!” Chase grabbed her wrist. He pulled her back and spun her around, forcefully pressing his lips to hers. “Be careful in there.” He said after pulling back. “Don’t go burning up on me.”

            “Chase, I don’t know if…” Her voice trailed off. She sighed and leaned in to kiss him. Then she turned, pulling her wrist away. Adam was standing beside the door with his arms folded.

            “Is this going to work?” He asked softly when she reached the door. His voice quivered slightly. With nothing to do to distract his mind, the fact that there was an asteroid on a steady collision course had finally sunk in.

            “It should.” She swallowed. “Adam, I have to ask you to do something. Trust me when I say it’s for the best and I wouldn’t ask it of you if it wasn’t important.”

            “What is it?”

            “Whatever happens in there, don’t let Chase in.” She pointed at the Drain Room. “Do not let Chase inside that room, no matter what. Promise me, Adam.”

            “I-I promise, Madi.” Adam furrowed his brow. “But why?”

            “If he goes in there, I won’t have the strength to save him.” She said. “Just, please, don’t let him in.” She pushed passed him and into the room. Adam looked shocked for a second before turning around and looking at Madi through the window into the room. Chase came and stood next to him.

            “What was that about?” He asked quietly. Adam shook his head.

            “I don’t know.” Beside them, Leo pressed the comm button.

            “Madi, you’re going to have to release enough power for the laser to charge up completely. If we shoot at this thing with any less than that, there’s no guarantee that it’ll work.” His voice echoed into the room. Madi nodded.

 

            Allowing her eyes to fall shut, Madi blocked out all distractions. This was more than just a drain, she needed to push everything she had into the laser. She took a deep breath and called her aura to the surface.

            The room started drawing on her power almost instantly. By the time she had her aura fully surrounding her, the strain of using so much power was already showing. The chlorine smell turned acrid. Sweat was beading along her hairline, her face was twisted into a grimace. Leo’s voice came over the intercom again.

            “The laser’s at 25%, Madi. We’re going to need a lot more.” In response, Madi pushed her aura away from her body. It filled the room, being pulled away faster and faster. “Ok, good. 50%.” It was harder to hear Leo now, her body diverting energy from her mind to fill the spell.

            She pushed harder, forcing every drop of what she had into the energy banks that would power the laser. Her legs gave out from beneath her. She sank to the ground, not having the energy or focus to stop herself: her entire mind was devoted to the task of channeling her energy out. Someone banged on the glass.

 

            A few blocks away, Bryce turned and looked back at the house. He could feel Madi’s outburst from here, could feel her power waning. In a few more minutes his sister would combust, her aura using the energy from her atoms to fuel itself.

            “Damn it!” He swore as he ran back up the street he had just come down.

 

            Chase watched the scene within the room nervously. The blue glow was dimming. He could see Madi’s temperature rising as her body tried to stay alive. Her heart rate was dropping at an alarming speed, her breathing slowing. She was dying, she didn’t have the strength to do this. Leo was reading out the power level.

            “75%...80%...” The pauses between numbers were lengthening as Madi’s strength faded. “85%...90%...come on, Madi, just a little more.”

            “No!” Chase heard himself shout as if from a distance. He smacked the glass with his palm. “If she gives any more, she won’t survive! We have to pull her out of there!” He made for the door

            “Chase, we don’t have a choice.” Leo snapped. “If we stop now, the entire world will end.”

            “No, there has to be another way. We can use something else for the last bit of energy.” He had a hand on the doorknob before someone grabbed him around the chest.

            “You can’t go in there, little bro.” Adam’s voice rang in his ear, sounding sad. Chase was lifted bodily from the ground as he tried to break free of Adam’s arms. “I promised Madi.”

            “Let me go!” Chase’s vision was blurred with a film of tears. “I have to save her!”

 

            Madi could feel herself heating up. Desperate to find some bit of strength, she called on her worst memories, hoping the fear would help. Images flashed through her mind like they had so many months ago in the park. The ground beneath her gave a slight tremor but the power from the spell was sucked away. The wind weakly tried to blow but that to was absorbed.

 

            Bryce charged through the front door and sprinted up the stairs as fast as he could. His lungs were screaming and his legs were burning but he pushed on. He could feel Madi close to death.

 

            Chase heard the slight tremble of the earth. His eyes cleared as the tears fell down his cheeks.

            “95%.” Leo sounded close to tears himself. “It’s not enough.”

            “Let go of me, Adam!” Chase screamed. “Let go, let me help her!”

            “I’m sorry, Chase.” Adam’s arms didn’t give way. “I can’t do that, Madi made me promise I wouldn’t let you go in there.”

            Bree appeared in Chase’s field of vision. She put her hands on his shoulders. “Chase, there’s nothing you can do. You have to stay out here.”

            “No, if I go in there, I can save her! My aura will flare, I can fuel the laser, she won’t have to burn.”

            “96%.”

 

            Every bad event Madi had ever suffered through was pulled from her memory. The emotions burned through her like fire. Or maybe it was actual fire. Maybe this was the end. She just hoped the last little bit her cells provided was enough to save everyone.

            “I love you, Chase.” She tried to say. But she lacked the energy to push the air from her lungs to say it.

 

            Bryce raced down the hall as fast as he could. He could see that-one-really-hot-guy-who’s-related-to-his-sister’s-boyfriend and that-one-girl-who’s-related-to-his-sister’s-boyfriend frantically trying to hold his-sister’s-boyfriend back from the door to the Drain Room. Madi, in the room was starting to smoke, her skin glowing red.

 

            “98%.” Leo’s voice was just a drone now, barely heard by the bionic siblings.

            Over Bree’s shoulder, Chase saw smoke rising from Madi’s body. Red started to cover his vision but this was beyond even Spike. The Commando Mode program fell away as quickly as it came.

            He struggled weakly against his brother’s arms, a guttural scream tearing through his throat, but he couldn’t even reach the ground, how was he supposed to break free? Adam grunted as one of Chase’s feet connected squarely with Adam’s thigh but the grip held. Bree brushed tears from Chase’s cheeks even as her own were dampening.

            Someone darted past them.

 

            Madi vaguely heard the door swing open. “No.” She coughed out somehow. “Adam, you promised.” But it wasn’t Chase’s scent of pineapple that filled the room, overpowering her own smell of chlorine. It was Bryce’s smell of dill.

            She felt her body being sent across the floor by a burst of wind. Then a blackness darker than the back of her eyelids consumed her and she felt no more.

 

            Bryce swept past the trio of sobbing teenagers and opened the door. He summoned a burst of wind to pull Madi out, forcing the spell to work against the draining effect. Someone yelled “100%, we’re good!” but he was more focused on saving Madi.

            He heard his-sister’s-boyfriend’s feet hit the floor as he knelt next to her. “No, don’t let him go yet!” He snapped at that-one-really-hot-guy-who’s-related-to-his-sister’s-boyfriend and was relieved when no annoying males rushed over. Bryce grabbed Madi’s hand and forced energy into her. She was so close to death it took more than he had been anticipating. His vision darkened and he slumped to the side.

 

            Chase took off the second Adam’s arms dropped. He barely noticed Leo firing the laser, shouting, “We did it!” as the computer announced that collision had been averted

            He dropped to his knees beside Madi’s drained body and sobbed in relief as his scanner told him she was alive, even if barely. He wrapped his arms around her, cradling her to his chest. Hot tears dripped down his face, off his chin, to land on her cheeks. She stirred slightly.

            “Hey, hey, it’s just me.” He said reflexively, expecting a slight panic. But there was none. Madi just relaxed against him.

            “Did we do it?” Her voice was barely audible, even to his enhanced hearing. “Are we safe?”

            “We are.” Leo crouched in front of Chase as he answered Madi’s question. “You did it.” He laid a hand on her arm. “You saved the world.” She smiled weakly, her eyes falling shut again. “Is she gonna be ok?” He asked.

            Chase smiled. “Yeah.” He brushed her hair off her face. “Yeah, she is.”


End file.
